Love Parade
The original Love Parade took place back in 1989 in Berlin, Germany with a menial crowd of about 150. However, since then it has grown to be possibly the longest running, highest attendance holding music festival in history. The parade festival stayed exclusively in Berlin until 2000 when BBC Radio One held a simultaneous parade in Leeds in the United Kingdom. That year crowds were approximately 1.3 million strong in Berlin; 300,000 in Leeds. The largest attendance recorded in the Berlin parade’s history was in 1999 with about 1.5 million people. However, as other cities picked up the trend, in 2008 the recorded attendance was 1.6 million in the city of Dortmund in Germany’s west.
Several cities around the world have had their own version of the Love Parade, even if other cities were hosting one that same year. In 2008 there were four recorded Love Parades: Dortmund, San Francisco, Caracas, and Rotterdam.
Although Berlin has not seen its own creation since 2006, it has been announced that there will be a demonstration on July 17th this year. There are rumors that the event will highlight acts like Tiesto and David Guetta.
Love Parade is unique and separate from other music festivals around the world. Foremost, it’s free music; perhaps the main reason it draws crowds the way it does. Secondly, it started as a demonstration back in 1989 as Europe was changing shape. Especially for Germany, where the Berlin Wall demolition occurred four months after the very 1st Love Parade. It was a demonstration of peace and expression through music that showed people from all over the world can come together.
Hopefully Love Parade continues to march on in many international cities including its original host Berlin. It is a unique experience for all who attend and demonstration of a unity of mass proportions.