Love Parade 2006: Where is the Love?

[Kellanved]

When the Love Parade was cancelled for two consecutive years in 2004-2005, it seemed as if the world's largest rave had finally danced to its last techno beat: the comedown had begun. A funding shortfall meant the organizers could not guarantee crowd safety or pay for the subsequent massive clean-up operation on the streets of Berlin. While small scale events continued around the German capital, the lights had gone out on the techno-extravaganza, which at its peak brought over 1 million people to Berlin each July. The partygoers moved on.

But earlier this year, like a phoenix from the flames, the Love Parade was reborn. A wealthy sponsor stepped in, convinced that a free parade could still go ahead without haemorrhaging money. All seemed rosy, yet -- after initial agreement -- one man wasn't happy: Love Parade's founder Ralf Regitz aka. "Dr. Motte." The DJ, promoter and spiritual leader of the techno generation, said he would play no part in the event.

"The sponsors started to interfere with the content (of the parade) and that simply can't be allowed," Motte, 46, told SPIEGEL ONLINE.

With a cash injection of around €2 million, a bargain-basement fitness company is to take over the running of the Love Parade Saturday, which -- in contrast to the amateurish, hippy free spiritedness of previous years -- will be run with military precision and no small amount of financial acumen. Instead of the makeshift, rickety soundstages of years gone by, the parade's 40 floats will be built to a single design and will be prominently adorned with sponsors' logos. On the plus side, there will be over 1,000 toilets for the expected half-million visitors, and plenty of security and refuse personnel. But, the fear is that some of the slap-dash, free-spirited hokum of previous years will be lost, replaced by corporate uniformity, rigidity and ubiquity.
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http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,426806,00.html


I don't get it. Sponsoring the parade is probably one of the cheapest major events to sponsor. Yet, only minor companies are interested and even those do everything possible to hurt the event (arguably hurting their own investment). And it isn't that big companies want to keep their distance: all major buildings along the parade's way are covered in huge ads by practically all major companies.