Nuit Blanche: Fog in Toronto a Slippery Hit

It's 4:51am and Nuit Blanche is still in full swing. I, on the other hand, have called it a night as I've O.D.'d on coffee and, really, I have to work tomorrow.

What can I say about the event? First off, it was simply amazing to see so many people out and enjoying the exhibits all over town. Secondly, Fog in Toronto, the fog installation by Fujiko Nakaya, absolutely made my night... and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

It was my first stop of the evening and later on I kept overhearing people talking about how wonderful it was... sooooo, I went back. Upon my return I discovered that they'd run into a big of a problem though: A rainy week, plus more rain tonight, plus constant fog and mist = a slippery slope into muddy madness. Literally.

You see, originally the fog (which came from various directions) covered most of Philosopher's Walk and the hundreds who showed up to experience it were free to wander and play.

But as the rain kept on, the grass disappeared, mud spread, and before long it was looking like we'd have Woodstock '94 instead of Nuit Blanche.

After being caught from a near wipe-out (camera and all), I decided it was time to head to another location.

Upon returning a couple hours later, I found the once grassy areas had been cordoned off with yellow tape and crowds were being directed through the park on the concrete path instead.

Some of the effect was certainly lost, but a less courageous organizer might have just shut down the whole thing for fear of a lawsuit, so it was just nice to see that the event was kept alive.

Cheers to Fujiko Nakaya and everyone involved in Nuit Blanche. It's been a night to remember.

Other photos by blogTO readers are already up in the Flickr pool.