On May 14, 2025, I had the pleasure of presenting a talk at the 13th Club Health International Conference on Nightlife, Substance Use and Related Health Issues, held in the vibrant city of Ghent, Belgium.
My contribution took place during the opening plenary session and was titled “Spectacularized Nocturnality: The Eventification and Touristification of the Night through Culture-Led Massive Events.” The presentation examined the increasing role of large-scale nighttime cultural events—particularly light festivals—in shaping public policies, tourism strategies, and urban branding. I reflected on how these events have transformed the way cities construct and consume nighttime spaces, often leading to a commodified and aestheticized vision of the night that serves both economic and symbolic purposes.
Building on my doctoral research, I discussed the social, spatial, and political consequences of this “spectacularization,” with particular attention to the tensions between local identity, inclusivity, and mass tourism. I also raised questions about who the night is being produced for, and how light-based programming can either reinforce or resist exclusionary dynamics in urban nightlife.
It was both stimulating and humbling to share this space with renowned researchers and practitioners from across Europe and beyond—experts working on issues ranging from drug policy and harm reduction to gendered experiences of nightlife and emerging mental health challenges within nocturnal cultures.
The Club Health conference continues to offer one of the most interdisciplinary and policy-relevant platforms for discussing nightlife from a public health, sociocultural, and urban perspective. My thanks to the organising committee—particularly Nicky Dirkx and Charlotte Colman—for curating such a dynamic and critical programme.
Ghent was the perfect setting for this dialogue: a city where history and nightlife co-exist, and where current efforts to rethink night policy through collaborative governance and care practices offer real-world examples of how public health, culture, and nightlife can coalesce.
Manuel Garcia-Ruiz 