Until 2008 it was fully illegal to sleep outside in The Netherlands. Since then you’re technically allowed to do so, but only if you don’t use any sleeping aids such as a tent or even a sleeping mat. It reads more like: ‘you’re allowed to pass out on a field after a party, but not recreationally sleep outside.’ On top of that, municipalities have now been put in charge of this legislation and were stimulated to create their own versions of the exact same law. Even where sleeping outside is not strictly marked as illegal, you’re still very likely to be sent away by the police. It just means you won’t get a fine.

Unless you own a suitable garden, or any other piece of land, sleeping under the stars is, in reality, still as illegal as it has ever been.

This project aims to make sleeping under the stars accessible for anyone, landowner or not.