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20 August 2007
Essen, Germany (dpa) – The parade forms the centrepiece of a four-day Love Weekend with more than 1,000 hours of music, 700 performers and around 100 parties, organizers said Monday.
The event was moved to the western Ruhr region city of Essen after plans to keep it in Berlin fell through.
“We will beat Berlin in a number of factors,” said Rainer Schaller, managing director of Loveparade GmbH, the company which operates the event.
Schaller said the Love Weekend from August 23-26 will be the “longest Love Parade in history” in terms of duration.
The summer event usually attracts around 1 million “ravers” who gyrate to electronic dance music booming from sound trucks and fixed stages manned by internationally known DJs.
But organizers of this year’s show were not prepared to say how many fans they expect to turn up for the parade of 27 floats through the centre of Essen on Saturday.
Under a deal thrashed out in June, the Love Parade will remain in the Ruhr region for five years, playing in the cities of Dortmund, Bochum, Duisburg and Gelsenkirchen after debuting in Essen.
The company that operates the event decided to move from Berlin after failing to agree with the capital’s administrators on a future concept for the parade.
The Love Parade was first held in 1989. Organized as a private business venture, it hit financial problems and did not take place in 2004 and 2005, but resumed last year.
Scantily clad dancers, intoxication and summer sun have been trademarks of the hedonist event, extending its appeal far beyond fans of its techno style of popular music, with young people flocking across borders to attend.
Last year’s parade in Berlin saw an estimated 1 million visitors entertained by 230 DJs from 17 nations.
DPA
Subject: German news