If human chess isn’t quite up your street then there’s another great event in Europe this weekend: the third annual Noche en Blanco – or White Night – celebration in Madrid. And given its success in previous years (as well as the city’s hard-earned reputation for 24-hour partying!) it looks set to be another fantastic night.

On Saturday (13 September), Spain’s capital will be hit by the full moon madness of ‘white night’ - from 9pm through till 6am. Musuems will stay open and there’ll be all manner of music, performances and arty happenings across the city - with a fair bit of partying, Madrileno-style, thrown in for good measure.

And if the exciting line-up wasn’t quite tempting enough, cash-strapped backpackers should be delighted to learn that absolutely everything is free. Yes, free. In fact, that delightful free-ness even extends to unlimited use of public transport to whizz you from one event to another!

Madrid’s white night is actually part of a larger European cultural organization (which also sponsors similar events in Paris, Brussels, Riga and Bucharest) that aims to arouse interest in art through free events. 

In HostelBloggers’ opinion, it’s a laudable initiative and deserves to be fully supported. So there’s only one thing for it: head straight for a hostel in Madrid and really make the most of this bonanza of culture and cañas!