The famous Love Parade, organised in the streets of Berlin, was the ball that got the techno festival movement rolling. The first Love Parade was organised in 1989, just three months before the fall of the Berlin Wall. At the time techno was a relatively underground movement, unknown to anyone outside the club scene. So the first Love Parade turned out to be a small affair, no more than 150 fans taking to the streets to celebrate the Wonderful World of Techno. However, since techno has exploded into the charts and the musical mainstream, the Love Parade has turned into a mega-festival, attracting audience of more than one million fans over the past two years.
Given the Love Parade's status as the 'granddad' of the techno festivals, it seems fitting that it's Berlin which kicks off this year's Techno Season. On July 10th, tens of thousands of techno fans will depart from the city's Brandenburg Gate, while another crowd of eager ravers set off from Ernst-Reuter Platz. The two halves of the Love Parade will then party on to meet up at the Grosser Stern roundabout. This year the Love Parade promises to be bigger and better than ever before. More than 150 carnival floats asked to take part in the Love Parade and over 50 have been selected to take part in the final procession. This year's Love Parade will see an eclectic mix of participants, carnival floats arriving from Portugal, Austria, Spain, Poland, Russia and Italy, as well as the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Romania, Hungary, Finland, Belgium, the UK, the USA and Australia. Fans can expect the usual mix of fun and eccentricity. But this year the Love Parade's organisers have also added a serious touch, setting up a forum and 'information pool' to spread Techno Awareness.
Street Parade
Meanwhile, things will also be hotting up in Switzerland as thousands of techno fans get ready to join in the annual Street Parade in Zurich. Modelled on the legendary Love Parade, the Zurich Street Parade was launched in 1992 and has been attracting steadily increasing audience every year. Last year's Street Parade saw a record turn-out of over 500,000 techno fans (compared to a measly 2,000 or so in its first year). In fact, the Street Parade has now become the most popular music festival in Switzerland, its attendance figures outweighing those of other famous Swiss festivals such as Montreux and the Nyon "Paleo".
"The ambience is the message!" proclaim the Street Parade organisers. And on Saturday August 7th organisers are guaranteeing fans a whale of a time with an impressive line-up of floats and international DJs. The 8th edition of the Street Parade certainly looks set to equal, maybe even surpass, record attendance figures for last year's festival. Those wanting to join in the fun at this year's Parade should get themselves down to Hafendamm Enge, where the procession kicks off. The Parade (expected to last around five hours this year, from 3.15pm to 8.30pm) will then proceed along the Mythenquai and take the picturesque route round Lake Zurich before ending up at Hornbachstrasse. 30 carnival floats (most of them from Germanic countries) are expected to take part in the Parade and over 40 parties are due to be organised pre- and post-Festival, transforming tranquil old Zurich into a veritable Techno Mecca.
Challenger
And last - but definitely not least - we come to the newest techno event on the summer festival circuit: the Paris Techno Parade. Launched by a French association called Technopol (who are currently campaigning for DJs' rights in France) the first Techno Parade was organised in Paris in September '98, attracting an audience of some 100,000 techno fans. Compared to the mega-parades organised in Berlin and Zurich, the Paris Techno Parade is obviously the baby of the bunch. But the French techno festival is expected to grow rapidly. Indeed, Technopol are currently travelling round Europe promoting the French parade and drumming up support in Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands.
The 2nd edition of the Paris Techno Parade will hit the streets on September 18th and fans are promised a b.p.m.-pumping mix of house, drum'n'bass, techno hardcore and trance. 96 floats applied to take part in this summer's Techno Parade and organisers have selected a final 40, most of them from the Paris region and the French provinces. With only 5 floats coming in from abroad (from Switzerland, Belgium and the U.K.), it looks as if the French Parade is determined to be the least international of this summer's Techno Happenings.
Techno fans are still assured of a good day out, however - so get yourselves along to the Place de la République where the Paris Techno Parade will kick off at 1pm. The procession is expected to last six hours and in the evening all the floats taking part in the Parade are due to get together to organise a massive free party. In the week running up to the Paris Techno Parade fans can make the most of Les Rendez-Vous Electroniques (ReVE) - a host of parties, concerts and other events organised in over 50 different venues between September 10th and 18th.
It looks as if the success of these three major techno events is already opening up borders and encouraging European co-operation. In fact, we'll let you into a little scoop here - the organisers of the Techno Parade recently came to Paris to meet with former French culture minister Jack Lang (one of the pioneers of the Paris Techno Parade) to talk about creating a kind of 'Techno Union' between Paris, Berlin and Zurich for the year 2000. Now that's what we call Techno Fusion!
