[Dixielandjazz] The Loveparade in Berlin

[Steve Barbone]

Oh my, if I was in Europe with a band, I'd be in Berlin to play this event
free. (The pictures were wonderful) :-) VBG.

Note to Wiggins: We might consider promoting a series of "Dixieland
Loveparades" in the USA featuring St Gabriel Celestial Singers and Barbone
Street. Sounds like a winner to me. Young music lovers, pleasure seekers,
and relevant OKOM. What a thought.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

Berliners Will Again Be Dancing in the Streets

NY TIMES - By A. J. GOLDMANN - July 15, 2006

BERLIN, July 14 ‹ A little less than a week after feeling the fierce
national rivalries of the World Cup final, Berlin has become the epicenter
of love, attracting hundreds of thousands of music lovers and pleasure
seekers to the world¹s largest dance party, the Loveparade. After a two-year
absence, the Loveparade returns to Berlin on Saturday to transform the
entire city into a nonstop club.

But while the love is back, optimism about the parade¹s return has been
overshadowed somewhat by controversial changes in the event. A corporate
sponsor, the German fitness chain McFit, has been given some artistic
influence over the parade, and there are new security measures to curb
illegal activity, like the use of drugs by partygoers.

Maurice Maué, 33, associate director of the Loveparade, calls it ³the
biggest party on earth and a great tradition.² He defends the new corporate
involvement this way: ³It¹s just more professional, more structured. We have
a different way of talking to the government and our partners. We don¹t need
to discuss who¹s cleaning up. If you party in someone¹s living room, you
need to clean up.² 

Rainer Schaller, 37, the owner of McFit and managing director of the
Loveparade, says he is pleased with how the new concept has been generally
received. ³Our new music concept received a lot of praise from the press,²
he said. ³We¹re very proud that it¹s so and that the Berlin club commission
and the whole scene is supporting us.² This year people were able to vote
over the Internet on what music would be played as part of the celebration.

The most vocal critic of this year¹s parade has been the Berlin-based D.J.
Dr. Motte (alias Matthias Roeingh), 46, who founded the Loveparade in 1989,
four months before the Berlin Wall came down. This year¹s Loveparade, he
says, is not true to the event¹s original message of peace and international
understanding through music.

³We wanted to show people a new, peaceful life,² Mr. Roeingh said. ³Under
the umbrella of music, everything is much easier.²

The history of the Loveparade is the stuff of myth, as documented in
countless guidebooks and Web sites. The first Loveparade, in July 1989, was
actually staged as a political demonstration, and it attracted a crowd of
about 150. Over time the parade grew and grew, the number of attendees
skyrocketing for more than a decade. According to the Loveparade Web site
(loveparade.net), the event has had more than 8.8 million visitors since its
creation and has attracted some of the world¹s most famous D.J.¹s.

In 1996 the parade moved to its current home, Berlin¹s largest park, the
Tiergarten. With more than 250,000 square meters of dance space, it became
the world¹s largest dance party and gained notoriety for rampant drug use
and sexual activity.

Attendance peaked in 1999, when the parade attracted about 1.5 million
visitors. But in 2001 the government ceased designating it a political
demonstration, and as a result its organizers became responsible for
security and maintenance costs. Funds quickly shriveled, and many backers
pulled out. The organizers were unable to raise enough money in 2004 and
2005, so it seemed that the Loveparade was dead and gone.

Then, this February, Mr. Schaller contributed a million euros of the event¹s
total estimated cost of 2.5 million euros, explaining that he wanted to use
the occasion to generate publicity for his fitness company. ³We¹re planning
to open in other European countries,² he said, ³so now the name of McFit
will be known by everyone in Europe.²

Dr. Motte says he is dismayed that the sponsor is taking such a central role
in planning the parade. ³Mr. Schaller is a businessman,² he said. ³He
doesn¹t know what the Loveparade is. The Loveparade is about healing society
through music and nonverbal communication. It¹s not a marketing parade.²

One of the changes he criticized most strongly was the online ballot, by
which 60,000 fans voted on the clubs and D.J.¹s they wanted to see
represented on the parade¹s 40 floats. ³You only do online voting if you
don¹t know what else to do,² he explained. ³Being invited to the Loveparade
is like being knighted. I wanted to make an advisory board, and I wanted to
have big names.² 

Despite the new selection concept, a number of big names are scheduled for
this year¹s parade, among them the D.J.¹s Paul van Dyk, Tiësto, Ricardo
Villalobos and WestBam.

Security at this year¹s parade will be tighter than before. Fifty specially
trained ³love guards² will monitor drug activity and hand out condoms and
earplugs. More than 1,000 security guards and Red Cross workers will be
present, along with a sizable police presence. Changes that have been made
to ensure safety and a minimum of illegal activity include fencing off the
Tiergarten and restricting the maximum alcohol content of all drinks sold to
8 percent. 

Still, Dr. Motte implied that sex and drugs were a given. ³At the Loveparade
everything is possible,² he said, adding that there had not been much
trouble with the police in past years. ³Who¹s afraid of people having their
experience and getting free?² He acknowledged that the Loveparade had been
known as an arena for exhibitionist tendencies, but added: ³It¹s not a
sexual thing. People are showing off because they feel free.²

Mr. Maué said the organizers expected the event to draw at least 750,000
people. ³We¹ll also be happy with half a million,² he said. ³We¹re hoping to
come back to over a million in the coming years.² He added that a lot
depended on the weather.

For the moment, however, the forecast is good. Dr. Motte will be out of
town.