This is the programme for Malaga's Noche en Blanco 2024: a late night feast of culture

'The magic is in you' says the poster for this year's Noche en Blanco in Malaga city, which is taking place on Saturday 18 May. The annual event, which sees museums, galleries and other cultural spaces staying open until late, as well as street entertainment, has around 12 more activities than last year. As many as 152 different performances and exhibitions will be taking place in 87 spaces across the city centre.

From an aerial acrobatic dance show in the middle of Calle Larios to a concert by La Guardia in Plaza de la Marina, the streets will be filled with live music, theatre, exhibitions, dance and free guided tours that will take place from 8pm to 1am.

The celebration coincides with International Museum Day so museums and exhibition spaces will be open free of charge from early in the morning, which may also help to alleviate the queues that usually form during the night-time cultural festival. In fact, to avoid these long waits, Malaga's councillor for culture Mariana Pineda recommended during the presentation of the programme on Wednesday 8 May that participants consult the programme, as many of the activities require prior reservation to avoid delays.

The programme includes free visits to all of Malaga's museums, including the Unicaja Foundation Cultural Centre whose latest exhibition, which includes masterpieces from the Abelló Collection, opens next week.

Malaga's Symphony Orchestra will be performing soundtracks from TV series on Plaza de la Constitución and there'll be music from the '80s and '90s by Larios Pop in Soho (Plaza de la Marina). Visitors can also learn about the production and history of Malaga's Victoria beer in its own brewery, and Nochecita en Blanco, which is aimed at children, has programmed eight activities in the Soho area.

Of the more than 150 events included in the programme the largest category is museums, exhibitions and art, with 37 options, followed by music and dance with a total of 34; theatre and stage performances with 13; street art with 10 and audiovisual arts with eight. As the Mayor of Malaga Francisco de la Torre said, it promises to be a Noche en Blanco to experience even more "the magic that the city already has". These are all the activities:

The work of the artistic collective 'Luzinterruptus' can be found on the Alameda Principal, in front of the municipal archive: 'La vida continúa entre hojas blancas' (life goes on between the blank pages), which is a large wall covered in thousands of notebooks with blank pages in the wind, in which the public can interact by writing or drawing on the pages of the notebooks to become creators, as well as spectators of the work.

Meanwhile, 'Luminiscencia', on the hill up to La Coracha, will offer a mix of electronic music with a DJ and lights that will transform the space. Calle Larios will feature an immersive aerial installation with acrobatic dance paying tribute to the beauty of sunsets and the good life in Malaga.

Malaga Cathedral's Patio de las Cadenas will host a soprano and piano recital by Abenauara Graffigna and José Felipe Díaz Álvarez-Estrada, while a piano student from the city's music conservatory and students from Malaga Foundation's Talent Scholarships will also perform different pieces.

In Plaza de la Merced the audience will be able to enjoy choral music with the groups Hoy es Tiempo (gospel and flamenco), Góspel Victoria, José Luis Rueda Peña del Colegio de Abogados, La Mar de Voces and Los Músicos del Titanic. Three piano recitals will be given by students from the Conservatorio Superior in the same square.

In Plaza del Obispo the musical groups linked to the Fundación Musical Málaga will perform, while in Plaza de la Marina Larios Pop del Soho orchestra will play a selection of hits from the '80s and '90s, and 'rock band La Guardia will give a concert. The Malaga Symphony Orchestra will perform in the Plaza de la Constitución with a musical programme dedicated to famous TV series soundtracks.

There'll be electronic dance music on Avenida del Comandante Benítez with 'Versa Electronic- Sesión Silent Disc', a sound-artistic installation where DJs Julia Martín (pop, r&b and urban), Kaya (tech house, electronica, funk house) and Dacil (tech house, afrobeat and funk/disco) will be fused. There will be flamenco at Peña Juan Breva.

At Mupam, in addition to the exhibitions, 'Magimorfosis' will be performed by dancers Ana and David Argudo who will move to different parts of the space giving life to paintings and audiovisual projections.

The Museo Casa Natal Picasso (birth house museum) will be offering an immersion into the mythological world represented in the works of Pablo Picasso. The Pompidou Centre and the Russian Museum Collection propose light installations by 'Proyecto Luz', directed by Antonio Vázquez and Vicente Denis, exploring the artistic capacities of projected light.

La Nochecita en Blanco is the space for children and families in Calle Tomás Heredia, Soho. The main event will be a workshop of enchanted candelabras, perfume potions, magic key rings, magic storytelling, magic shows and a fantasy parade, among other activities.

The Galamián International Academy will offer the activity 'The Mirror of Erised', a magical mirror from the Harry Potter saga which according to Dumbledore, shows the "deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts". The violinist Antonio Ortiz, who is just 10 years old, will perform musical themes from the Harry Potter films, alternating with pieces by Mozart.

'The Magic of Our Earth' will consist of urban gardening workshops for children, where they will be shown the magic that takes place in the earth to provide the food and life that is needed.

'With a certain charm', taking place at the AC Málaga Palacio hotel, is also aimed at children and young people with special educational needs. The initiative involves living the experience in a group, as well as sharing music with other children and their families. Participants will have the opportunity to interact with each other through instruments. The musical language/piano teacher, music therapist and expert in high intellectual abilities, Carmen León Cruzado, will be in charge of the programme.

There will also be guided tours of the Alcazaba for which registration must be done online through the Eventbrite platform. Those interested will be able to choose one of the five available times: at 8pm, 9pm, 10pm, 11pm and midnight. The capacity is 30 people per session. The guided tour of the monument, which will last approximately 45 minutes, will include a radio guide with headphones which will be provided at the entrance and collected at the exit.

The full programme can be found here.