Berlin, Aug 17 (EFE).- ‘Rave the Planet’, the successor to the massive electronic music parade and festival ‘Love Parade’, was held this Saturday after 18 years of absence in Berlin. It was held under the motto “love is stronger.” There, participants defended love, peace, respect and the recognition of electronic music as a good to be protected.
Thousands of people gathered in the same avenue where this techno parade used to take place. This is on the popular artery of central Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni or “June 17th Street”.
Eighteen years after the last ‘Love Parade’ in the German capital, its founder, the Dr. Motte, brought back to Berlin the successor of the event but with a different name: ‘Rave the Planet’.
Words from the Organizers
According to the organisers, around 30 floats and 300 international artists took part in the event. The event featured colours, glitter, bubbles and dance steps to the rhythm of electronic music.
“They have to give this party another chance, it’s a good day to reclaim DJs and the energy that was transmitted in the past,” said Paul Muller, a participant in the demonstration, to EFE.
Colourful floats with signs reading “Peace and Love” were on display, with international DJs playing various kinds of electronic music. They got the participants dancing as they paraded between Berlin’s famous landmark, the Brandenburg Gate, and the Siegessäule, or Victory Column.
A float was displayed with loudspeakers announcing this year’s motto and eight key political demands.
One of the political calls was the preservation and protection of electronic music as Intangible Cultural Heritage recognized by UNESCO, as well as the recognition of its cultural and social contributions.
The power of love and music
Under the motto “Love is stronger”, the participants of ‘Rave the Planet’ danced and marched to defend love, peace, friendship, solidarity, diversity, respect, music, sustainability and community spirit.
In the German capital, renowned for its clubbing and nightlife, electronic music fans were also calling for an annual public holiday celebrating techno culture on the second Saturday in July, the traditional day of the Berlin Love Parade.
Westbam, a popular DJ on the Love Parade, performed on float number eight. He was followed by a group of other artists and a group of people to the sound of an intense electronic beat.
At the end of the parade, the crowd gathered at the Brandenburg Gate. There, a final rally and a spectacle with even more music were planned.
In addition to Westbam and company, artists such as Cherry aka BreakNtune, Hanna von Beeskov, Hardy Hard, K-Paul, Tomcraft, Alex Stein, Basstronauten, Felix Kröcher, Isabelle Beaucamp, Paula Cazenave, Simina Grigoriu and, of course, Dr. Motte, among others, also enlivened this daytime Berlin party. Valesca Ricardo Lavalle