Paris celebrated the 16th annual “Nuit Blanche” contemporary art festival Sunday. Despite the drizzly autumn night with a gusty wind, about a million local residents and tourists still came outside for the art feast, enjoying the 150 art installations, performances, staged scene sets and artistic creations scattered across the city.

The theme of this year's "sleepless night" festival focused on the notion of collective artworks by inviting many well-known artists, new talent, and college students to present a memorable "white night" with spectacular modern art pieces and live performances. Visitors were also allowed to become creators as they could compose phrases and messages with the help of giant 3D letters placed by the Seine river.

The art carnival offered a new view of Paris with exploration of all facets of a contemporary art show in various forms, including a ballet in the Forum des Halles shopping center, a zombie skeleton installation, a dance performance by 300 dancers in Forum des Halles in central Paris.

Public transport stayed open all night so that spectators were able to design their own routes among the dozens of avant-garde projects by international artists.

First organized in 2002, the "Nuit Blanche" festival is held on the first Saturday of October each year. The concept of a night-time festival of the arts has spread to other cities in France, and even around the world, with events in over 120 cities, including Canada, Australia, South America, and several European capitals.