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At the age of 25, Freek Wallagh is often the youngest person in the room. For a long time, this meant that people didn’t take him seriously. But in his role as night mayor ( nachtburgemeester ), a position he’s held in Amsterdam since March 2023, Wallagh thinks this is an advantage – ‘It’s not a bad thing to be slightly underestimated’, he smiles.

Amsterdam’s first night mayor was appointed in 2003, and since 2014 the night mayorship has been affiliated with Stichting N8BM A’DAM – an independent foundation working with the city council and which is committed to a “lively, diverse and inclusive nightlife”. Wallagh, a poet, activist and painter who began working as a journalist in the red light district at the age of 15, was shortlisted and elected by a public vote. The position isn’t paid, except for a small “volunteering fee” and is full time, which means for Wallagh, the role of night mayor is really a labour of love.



He grew up in the city’s nightlife, starting his career interviewing partygoers and event-makers, talking with sex workers and DJs, gaining inspiration for his own non-fiction writing and poetry. “The city fascinates me,” he says. “Both as an individual born there and living in Amsterdam, but also as an academic to see how cities see and judge night life.

” It is this that he hopes to have the biggest impact on during his tenure as night mayor; the relationship between the city and nightlife. “We’re often presented with .

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