While visiting Berlin last week, I experienced a demonstration that passed in front of my hotel on August 20th and found out it was the ‘Fuckparade’. The parade included a number of sound equipped trucks with DJs, turntables, and speakers blasting all genres of electronic music. Each truck was followed by crowds of people dancing and cheering as the parade moved through the streets of Berlin, Germany. It was like a mobile party snaking its way through the city and growing in numbers as it moved.
After doing some research, I discovered that the Fuckparade started in 1997 as an annual demonstration in Berlin, which originally began as a backlash to the Love Parade. The main reasons for its creation were, according to organizers, were also the repression of unwanted techno styles (hardcore techno, gabba) and the commercialization of the Love Parade (high registration fees for cars, foreign sponsorship scene, no political statements, despite demonstration status). In addition, the closure of the techno clubs in the bunker Albrecht Strasse in Berlin-Mitte and the related “sellout” of the barn area was discussed. The spokesman for the Fuckparade Martin Kliehm said the Fuckparade demonstrates the commitment to a subculture healthy and livable city centers, against the destruction of public space and urban planning towards goal only for financially strong groups.
Additionally, it focused on the issue that the techno club “Bunker” had been shut down. The most played musical styles in the Fuckparade are Gabber, Speedcore, Techno, Punk, and House. The event now has sister events; Austria’s ‘FreeParade’ and Switzerland’s ‘Antiparade’.
For more information about the Fuckparade, visit the official website at www.fuckparade.org.
Culture Addicts 