Rave the Planet gets go-ahead after cancellation threats

Fans of techno music have surely had this date marked in their calendars well in advance. The event, a successor to the legendary Love Parade, is attracting party people from around the world. This year boasts a lineup of more than 200 international artists playing sets on 25 different parade floats.

The event almost didn't happen this year, due to difficulties securing emergency medical services. Up until the last minute, it looked as if Rave the Planet would have to be canceled before a solution was finally found on Friday, as confirmed by the event's managing director Timm Zeiss. 

Now ravers can dance through Berlin as planned, celebrating their love of techno music at a huge, outdoor party.

Rave the Planet was first held last year. It was a relaunch of the concept of the annual Love Parade techno party, which was cancelled following a tragedy in 2010 when 21 people died in a mass panic that broke out during the event that was held in Duisburg that year.

With the rebranding, Rave the Planet wants to symbolize a new beginning and at the same time emphasize the importance of safety and responsibility.

More than just a street party

Like in the early days of its progenitor the Love Parade, Rave the Planet is officially a political demonstration rather than a commercial endeavor. The organizers are committed to the preservation of electronic music culture and world peace. That's why they've even applied for recognition as intangible cultural heritage with UNESCO.

"With techno culture, it's striking that there are not only young people at parties. Rather, it's a culture where older people have something to show younger people," argues musicologist Hans Cousto in a UNESCO application video on the Rave the Planet website. "That's where knowledge is transmitted from generation to generation. And this transmission of knowledge in celebratory culture, that's something that has to be protected."

From techno to house to trance, the various genres featuring on the 25 trucks of Rave the Planet reflect the diversity and range of electronic music culture, according to organizers.

Crowds in the hundreds of thousands expected 

Last year on July 9, some 200,000 people from around the world poured onto the streets of Berlin to take part in the parade. A similar number of party-goers is expected again this year.

Like the Love Parade in the 1990s and 2000s, the parade traditionally starts at Kurfürstendamm, one of the most famous avenues in the German capital, and ends in Berlin's Tiergarten park between the Brandenburg Gate and the Victory Column.

The peaceful gathering of enthusiastic ravers dancing sweatily to pulsating techno beats is scheduled to go on all day — the parade starts at 2:00 pm local time and ends at 10:00 pm.

Afterwards, of course, there are both official and unofficial after-parties. In addition to parties at well-known Berlin clubs, an officially organized after-party is also the Clean-Up Day on the following day. 

That event is planned thanks to lessons drawn from the Love Parade. By the 2000s, the event was no longer recognized as a demonstration, as it had been in the 1980s and '90s, and the organizers had to pay for waste disposal themselves, which plunged them into financial ruin.  

To ensure the safety and well-being of the participants, the organizers work closely with Berlin authorities. That's also a lesson from the past, as the memories of the deadly events of the Love Parade in 2010 are still fresh. Last year, police called an early end to the party due to concerns about the "dangerously" large crowd.

This article was originally written in German.