When it gets dark, the night mayor comes

Amsterdam

topos accompanied the night mayor of Amsterdam Shamiro van der Geld, who is on his way to make nightlife safer and more inclusive.

Clubbing used to be something governments tried to shut down. But even nowadays, the nightlife needs someone ensuring that inhabitants stay happy and revellers calm: a night mayor like Shamiro van der Geld. But the challenges of the acceptance of nightlife are big – hopefully not too big for one single man. Our author Charlie Clemoes accompanied Shamiro during the Amsterdam Dance Event and found out more about his tasks.

Find the entire article on Shamiro van der Geld in topos 105.

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It’s the first day of ADE (Amsterdam Dance Event)…

… the world’s biggest conference and festival devoted exclusively to electronic music.

Our author Charlie Clemoes is meeting the night mayor of Amsterdam Shamiro outside the opening event at Mary Go Wild, a small record store on Amsterdam’s Zeedijk. A sizable crowd has gathered to catch acid house pioneer DJ Pierre, who is there to talk about the roots of house music.

Mind you, generous man that he is, Shamiro still finds time for a brief chat …

or a quick photoshoot, before going in.

True to form, Shamiro is all over town throughout the weekend, hosting talks, speaking to the national media and even finding time to take on MC duties at an event.

Starting out organising the hip hop and R&B event Vunzige Deuntjes (Messy Tunes), Shamiro moved into acting, presenting and theatre making, all the while MCing at various electronic music parties.