Germany's Love Parade, A Techno Lover's Dream

Filed in archive Events on February 8, 2008

Germany's Love Parade is arguably the biggest gathering on the planet. Originally an electronic music festival held in Berlin, it attracted a few hundred people in its first year. By the mid 1990s, over a million people converged on Berlin to attend a series of rolling rave parties. Though budget issues keep the event from being held in Berlin, nearby Dortmund will play host to the 2008 version of the parade. Over 1 million people are expected.

Love Parade, held in July, is aimed at techno music fans. In fact, many locals leave town on the day of the parade to avoid the chaos and noise.

The parade consists of "floats." Each float is actually a mobile sound stage. Ravers converge on the floats as they move along the miles long route. Sound weird? Perhaps it is. But for techno music lovers (and people who love to wear feather boas and dye their hair), Love Parade is a sort of fleeting paradise.

Here's a slide show of the 2006 version of the event: