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The Love Parade is a popular one-weekend techno festival taking place in Berlin's Tiergarten Park every summer since 1989.
Many people from Germany, Poland, and other countries come to Berlin to take part in the Parade - over a million attended in the years 1997 through 2000 and 800,000 in 2001. Attendance at the 2001 festival was significantly lower because the date of the parade was changed with little advance notice.
The Love Parade has roots back to 1989 in the spirit of a changing Europe. It was celebrated first 4 months before the demolition of the Berlin Wall. It was started by the fresh Berlin Underground under the initiative of Matthias Roeingh aka "Dr. Motte". It was held as a political demonstration for peace and international understanding through music.
Until 1996, the parade was held on the famous Berlin "Ku'damm"; after that it moved to the "Straße des 17. Juni" which is near the Tiergarten park in the center of Berlin by the Brandenburg Gate. The center of the parade is the Siegessäule (Victory Column) in the middle of the park, and the golden angel atop the column has become a symbol of the parade.
It is the mother of all techno parades that exist today and still thrives. Techno means in this case mainly (Progressive) House, Techno, and Schranz. Attempts to introduce other music styles, such as hip hop, have failed. Hardcore and Gabber music were part of the parade in early years, but were later removed. They are now celebrated separately on a counter-demonstration called "fuck parade".
One who wants to experience loveparade at the middle weekend of July should be aware of the fact that it is louder and more crowded than any concert. With its watercooled soundsystems on every truck the parade produces a soundfloor of many megawatt. The parade basically lives through those trucks. The trucks usually feature local or important clubs and their DJs. It has become a rule that only trucks are allowed which have sponsors from a techno related field such as clubs, lables or stores. It costs a lot of money to equip any truck, but once you see them you'll enjoy every cent spent on them. They are usually open on top and feature some delicious dancers. Their box-systems are mounted on the side or the rear and make your pants shake if you come too close. There are two tactics to choose from: Follow a truck that features a style that you like or have them all pass you so you can see more. The music lover will of course choose the first one.
One famous picture from the Love Parade is people sitting on the street lanterns. Although it is not allowed, there is probably not a better way to see and be seen. The police of Berlin are usually quite tolerant when it comes to people being just themselves. There haven't been any major incidents in its over twelve years of history - if you don't count the high drug use and people passing out for several reasons.
The final of the demonstration is every year the so called "Abschlusskundgebung" which are half-hour sets of the world's leading top DJs such as DJ Rush,DJ Hell, Westbam, Miss Djax, or Chris Liebing. During this time all trucks (usually about 40) are connected to each other and set online to the statue of victory where the Turntables are. This is one of the few chances a DJ can ever have to play for a crowd of about one million people.
With the end of the parade the fun is far from over. Loveparade weekend in berlin is probably the only time and place worldwide where a whole city is practically turned into a club. Any good and respectable DJ on this planet is usually booked for one of the huge number of parties that are held before and after the parade. Parties range from clubs with some hundred, mostly exclusive guests to almost raves with several floors and some ten thousand folks. Many people today come to berlin only for the parties and miss the parade for sleeping reason. Or they enjoy it with other "ravers" in the park right next to the parade route.
One thing you surely will take home with is the impression of many open hearted women, guys and really glamorous people. Love parade is the place to exhibit and enjoy other people's exhibition tendencies. Some people enjoy to carry around back-in-the-days toys such as pacifiers or face masks. But usually the crowd is quite imaginative in terms of clothing and appearance.
The Love parade may be a dinosaur and together with Mayday, Nature One and few others the left over of a rave culture that marked the beginning of the era of modern Techno music.
There are similar festivals in other cities like Zürich's Streetparade and Love Parades in Newcastle and Vienna.
List of Love Parades in Berlin
Cyborg, Love Parade 2001
| Year | Motto | Participants |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen | 150 |
| 1990 | The Future Is Ours | 2000 |
| 1991 | My House Is Your House And Your House Is Mine | 6000 |
| 1992 | The Spirit Makes You Move | 15000 |
| 1993 | The Worldwide Party People Weekend | 31000 |
| 1994 | Love 2 Love | 110000 |
| 1995 | Peace on Earth | 280000 |
| 1996 | We Are One Family | 750000 |
| 1997 | Let the Sun Shine In Your Heart | 1000000 |
| 1998 | One World One Future | 800000 |
| 1999 | Music Is The Key | 1500000 |
| 2000 | One World One Loveparade | 1300000 |
| 2001 | Join the Love Republic | 800000 |
| 2002 | Access Peace | 750000 |
| 2003 | Love Rules | 750000 |
Note: The "Participants" figure is the estimate given by the organizers. Police estimates have usually been as much as 30% lower. Accurate counts are not available since entry is free and uncontrolled.