Regina's Nuit Blanche reinvents itself as a drive-thru art festival

For one night every year, the streets of Regina become an art gallery at the nighttime festival known as Nuit Blanche.

Usually, festival-goers explore the downtown streets after dark to get up close and personal with the lit-up artwork, as they would at any art gallery, simply in a less traditional location.

But COVID-19 measures meant Regina's Nuit Blanche organizers had to rethink the festival.

"It's been a bit challenging, we've had to adapt, but we're really happy with what we've planned for this year," artistic director Michelle Harazny told CBC's The Morning Edition. 

Drive-thru with a DJ

Instead of walking downtown, attendees will drive through the Warehouse District. Installations will be projected on the wide, blank walls abundant in the neighbourhood, and cars will spend three minutes at each installation, with glow-stick-emblazoned cyclists from Bike Regina pacing the cars.

Harazny said it should take about 30 minutes to drive through the festival.

DJ Cakebaby's live set from the Centennial Market parking lot will be broadcast on 87.9 fm, "like going to a drive-in movie or drive-in concert," Harazny said.

The organizers had already been planning the 2020 festival for months when COVID-19 hit. Instead of cancelling or moving the event online, they reformulated their plans to work as a drive-thru. But in the early days of the pandemic, even that wasn't a sure bet.

"We were always considering all the possibilities and being cautious, and we delayed our responses to the artist applicants this year because we were waiting to see how things go."

Harazny is particularly excited to see some of the very large projections, like Liquid Light by Ian Campbell — an improvised piece using oil, water and colouring techniques — and the music video Isol8 by ygretz.

"It's a night to go out and look at art and explore the city and look at artworks in spaces that you wouldn't normally see them, like in an alley, in a park or the side of a building."

The free, family-friendly event runs from 8:00-11:00 p.m. CST Saturday, starting at the corner of Dewdney Avenue and Cornwall Street.