Night mayor (municipal title)

Night Mayor (originally Dutch: Nachtburgemeester) is a municipal title used for someone who represents and helps develop a city's nightlife.[1] The earliest known use of the title was in Rotterdam, Netherlands.[2][3]

History

In 2003 music collective De Nachtwacht (Dutch for "The Night Watch") was elected by an audience at the Paradiso music venue in Amsterdam to become a group of multiple so-called night mayors for an initial term of three years.[4] Following elections at Melkweg on 1 March 2012, the position was held by Mirik Milan.[5][6] In 2014, Milan co-founded (other co-founders: Michiel Friedhoff and Ella Overkleeft) the non-profit Stichting N8BM A’DAM (NGO Night Mayor Foundation) to institutionalise the title, coordinating between the city mayor, city council, and local businesses.[2][1][7] Milan announced his departure in 2016, starting the search for a replacement which would be found in 2018.[8][9]

Since 2016, the non-profit has organised annual "Night Mayor Summit" events to bring together leaders from around the world.[10][6][11]

Around the world

Europe

• Amsterdam, Netherlands: informal collective since 2003,[12][4] institutionalised since 2014, the first in the world.[1]
• London, United Kingdom: since 2016, with Amy Lamé as the first Night Czar.[13][14] Mirik Milan was invited in 2015 by the London government for advice on the position.[15]
• Mannheim, Germany: since 2018, the first in Germany.[16]
• Prague, Czech Republic: since 2019.[17]
• Manchester, United Kingdom: Sacha Lord is the Night Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester, appointed by Mayor Andy Burnham in 2018.
• Sosnowiec, Poland: since 2023, the first in Poland.[18]
• Kraków, Poland: since 2024.[19]

Latin America

• Cali, Colombia: since 2016,[20] the first in Latin America.[21]

North America

• Ottawa, ON, Canada: since 2024.
• Washington DC, USA: since 2018.[22][23]

References

1. Milliken, Grennan (2017-05-27). "Amsterdam Has a 'Night Mayor' and He's Not Here Just to Party". Vice. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
2. "English — Stichting N8BM A'DAM". nachtburgemeester.amsterdam. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
3. Wiegman, Marcel (2016-04-25). "Nachtburgemeester: 'Meer dan een leuk erebaantje'". Het Parool (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-06-05.
4. "Nachtwacht stopt en maakt balans op". Partyscene (in Dutch). 1 January 2005. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
5. Wolthuizen, Josien (2018-02-25). "Shamiro van der Geld gekozen tot nieuwe nachtburgemeester". Het Parool (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-06-05.
6. "Buitenlandse nachtburgemeesters op stap in Amsterdam". nos.nl (in Dutch). 2016-04-23. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
7. "What Europe's 'Night Mayors' Can Teach New York". The New York Times. 2017-08-30. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
8. Wiegman, Marcel (2016-04-25). "Nachtburgemeester: 'Meer dan een leuk erebaantje'". Het Parool (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-06-20.
9. Wolthuizen, Josien (2018-02-25). "Shamiro van der Geld gekozen tot nieuwe nachtburgemeester". Het Parool (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-06-20.
10. Sisson, Patrick (2016-09-06). "How night mayors are proving the economic and cultural value of robust nightlife". Curbed. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
11. "De 'nachtburgemeester' wordt wereldwijd langzaam serieus genomen". nos.nl (in Dutch). 8 January 2018. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
12. Sakitumi, Dewey (17 April 2003). "De Nachtwacht: Amsterdam moet terug op de kaart van het uitgaansleven". KindaMuzik. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
13. "Night Czar". London City Hall. 2016-11-02. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
14. "De nachtburgemeester moet Londens uitgaansleven redden" (in Dutch). NOS.nl. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
15. "Amsterdamse nachtburgemeester schiet Londen te hulp" (in Dutch). NOS.nl. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
16. "Mannheim to elect Germany's first 'night mayor'". www.thelocal.de. 19 July 2018. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
17. "Prague gets its first nightlife mayor". Radio Prague International. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
18. Barłowski, Karol (2023-07-17). "Nocna warta. Pierwszy w Polsce burmistrz pracujący nocą" [Night watch. The first night mayor in Poland to work at night]. katowice.tvp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-12-05.
19. "Kraków has a night mayor - KRAKOW THE OPEN CITY". www.krakow.pl. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
20. "THE RISE OF THE NIGHT MAYOR". Public Sector Digest. 2016-08-03. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
21. Delgadillo, Natalie. "Latin America Is Getting Its First Night Mayor". CityLab. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
22. Zaveri, Mihir (2018-10-10). "Washington Wants to Hire a Night Mayor. So What Is That?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
23. "DC Officially Has a New 'Night Mayor' to Oversee Nightlife". NBC4 Washington. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 2020-06-05.