Berlin
After a two-year hiatus, the Love Parade is coming back to Berlin this July. What began in 1989 as a small political demonstration for the “right to rave” grew into an enormous techno rave party. In recent years, it flooded Berlin’s Tiergarten Park with up to 1.5 million ravers, many topless and many more drunk or high. Since such a crowd leaves vast heaps of trash, organizers are required to pay in advance for cleanup costs. In 2004 and 2005, they couldn’t afford the roughly $2 million fee, and the festival was canceled. This year, though, a gym chain, McFit, is footing the bill as corporate sponsor. “I couldn’t accept that this mega event in my home country couldn’t take place anymore solely because of financial problems,” said McFit CEO Rainer Schaller.
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