The annual Night of the Arts is held on the last Thursday of August, in the middle of the Helsinki Festival. On this night, museums, galleries, libraries and bookshops are open until late, and all sorts of exhibitions and performances take place all over the city until the wee hours. Dance, theater and musical performances are staged at various locations, many of them not usually used for those purposes, and choirs tour the city, stopping at bars and restaurants to sing. The Night of the Arts has partly transformed into a great end-of-the-summer party, occasionally qualifying for the name of 'Little May Day', with accompanying alcoholic consumption. This does not, however, take away from the cultural content of the event. People eat, drink and party until morning, and at the same time visit exhibitions and see performances, some of them uniquely arranged for this one night of the year.