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Here you will find detailed information about the Nightfever initiative, the Nightfever evening and other offers.

Nightfever - an open offer

Originating in Bonn in 2005 and now based in over 458 cities worldwide: Nightfever, an initiative of young Christians of World Youth Day age (i.e. 16-35 years) who have experienced the joy of faith and want to invite others to be touched by God's love and mercy. Weekend after weekend, the doors of the church are wide open and young people and young adults invite passers-by on the street to come into the church, light a candle, listen to the music, read a Bible passage, receive a blessing, take up the offer to talk to a priest or receive the sacrament of reconciliation. Many accept this invitation, some stay for a quarter of an hour, others for the whole evening.

Unity in diversity

Nightfever begins in each city with Holy Mass, followed by prayer, song and conversation after a short presentation and testimony. Visitors can now simply enjoy the beautiful atmosphere, come to rest, pray or take advantage of one of the many opportunities. The evening finally ends with the night prayer of the church, the Compline.
Even though the schedule is the same in every city, you can discover a great diversity at Nightfever: very different young people, groups, communities and local parishes contribute with their songs and prayers, just as the youth and young adults themselves enrich Nightfever with very different talents, be it in the music, in the technology or in the catering. Their commitment is entirely voluntary. They do this because they themselves are enthusiastic about their faith and want to share it with others.

Origins and development

Nightfever was founded by Katharina Fassler-Maloney and Pastor Andreas Süß after the World Youth Day in Cologne in 2005. Originally planned as a one-off prayer evening on 29 October 2005 in the spirit of the World Youth Day, it soon developed into a regular Nightfever evening with students from various faculties and educational institutions. First in Bonn, then always in close contact and after prior training, in Freiburg, Erfurt, Mainz and Cologne. In this way, the initiative spread further and further. In the meantime, there are Nightfevers in more than 70 German cities, such as Munich, Berlin, Cologne, Erfurt and Dresden. But there are also Nightfevers in 26 other countries (Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, England, Scotland, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Canada, Croatia, Australia, Brazil, the USA, Belgium, Poland, Argentina, Thailand, Luxembourg, France, Slovakia, Mexico, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, India and Hungary). In total, more than 4,300 Nightfever evenings have taken place so far.
In order to keep Nightfever in unity worldwide and to maintain the vision and charisma, Nightfever starts are only possible after prior training by the international Nightfever team. Enquiries for interested parties via info@nightfever.org.

Further offers

In addition to the regular Nightfever evenings, the Nightfever Initiative offers international Nightfever Weekends and training sessions where helpers can get together, get to know each other and exchange ideas. In addition, various theological Nightfever Academy events are offered with renowned speakers, such as "Mercy: Forgiveness of the unforgivable?" with Prof. Dr. Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz. Since 2016, there has also been Nightfever Explore, a journey of discovery of the Christian faith for young people who, after a Nightfever evening, feel like doing more. This faith course deals with the basics of the Christian faith.
Nightfever also supports the "24 Hours for God" initiative launched by Pope Francis, as well as charitable projects and the 72-Hour Action.
In the meantime, Nightfever is also celebrated at many major events, such as the Katholikentag, various congresses and at the World Youth Days. Even during the Olympic Games in London, there were Night Fevers on several evenings.

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