Thys Boer – Rotterdam’s New Night Mayor

Rotterdam’s nightlife offers so much more than just parties.

It’s a celebration of new perspectives, optimism, pleasure, and activism.
This is a space dedicated to free expression, where you can confidently be yourself or adopt an alter ego if you need one.

But nightlife doesn’t exist on its own. It’s shaped by all of us: institutions, artists, organisers and the people who keep the city alive after dark.

In the recently published Nightvision report, by the Rotterdam municipality, nightlife is now officially recognised as ‘culture’. A very promising development! At the same time, the recent report by nightlife specialists Creative Footprint paints a mixed picture: venues are closing, artists are relocating to other cities, and young people have fewer cultural spaces to express themselves. It seems like Rotterdam’s nightlife really is at an important crossroads.

Meet Thys Boer – Rotterdam’s new Night Mayor.
Thys has been working tirelessly behind the scenes: fighting for our venues, supporting artists, and pushing for policies that understand what nightlife means to this city. It’s time to officially inaugurate Thys as the city’s very first functioning Night Mayor.

Join us for a short ceremony during Festival Downtown on Friday, September 12th,

at 9:15 pm on the Boomgaardsstraat — in front of WORM. Rotterdam’s vice mayor will officially welcome Thys Boer as our night mayor. A celebration of the people and culture that shape our nights, with performances that embody the spirit and expression of Rotterdam’s nightlife.