We are almost glad to report that this latest edition of Africa Night Rotterdam will be remembered as the longest but most uninspiring Africa Night ever. Almost glad because we were beginning to sound boring writing how good our Africa Nights always were. And even though it is always true, it was beginning to sound like an old LP.
Having started at 22.00 hours, my intuition already convinced it was going to be a long night. Figuratively and literally it was. If you considered that the first 2 (previous) editions of Africa Night Rotterdam ended at 03.30 hours, you’ll understand what we mean knowing that this 3rd edition dragged on till after 04.45 hours. We say after 04.45 hours because when we, the organisers, left at 04.45 hours, there was still a sizeable amount of Africa Night party goers, who were still having too much fun to leave! Happily for them, they could stay on because there was an after-party in the same venue which started just as we were leaving.
The night was long also because people seemed to take their time to turn up. When they did, it was just in ones and twos. The result was that even though there were a lot of visitors in the end, the venue did not at any time look full. Purely on the numbers of visitors, it should have looked full if everyone had arrived during the now legendary Africa Night arrival hour. The Africa Night arrival hour, for those who do not know it, is the time between 23.30 and 00.30 hours. In that one hour window, every Africa Night venue always transform from nearly empty to very full. But the visitors to this edition of Africa Night broke with tradition and just came when it suited them! In fact the largest batches of visitors arrived between 02.30 and 03.00 hours.
The music was good even if you had one or two people who did not share this opinion. But true to the uninspiring spirit of this night, one practically had to drag people to the dance floor. Sigh!
We had the legendary DJ Erick in the house and he even guest deejayed some beats. It was nice to welcome the Kenyan contingent he brought with him! On another note, based on the feedback from the visitors to the first two Africa Nights in Rotterdam, we were able to persuade the owner of the venue to adjust the price of drinks to reflect the normal Rotterdam standards.
All in all, it was a night so wanting of inspiration that the ladies taking the jackets and at the box office did not once go inside to see or feel the dance floor. To build Africa Night Rotterdam to the level of Africa Night Tilburg, we have loads of work ahead. We are up to the challenge, but we have our work cut out.
Discover the joy of African music & dance!
