Berlin's techno festival Love Parade, which has been missing from the summer calendar for the last two years due to financial troubles, has found a new sponsor, fitness company McFit, and as a result will make a comeback on 15 Jul this year, less than a week after the German capital hosts the football World Cup.
The Love Parade started as a small party in 1989, but grew steadily, at its height attracting as many as 1.5million people to a number of raves held in the city's parks, as well as the event's huge procession. The event left the city with large policing and cleaning up bills which they initially covered because the event was arguably a political demonstration. But when the city later ruled the event had lost its political dimension they said that organisers would have to cover cleaning up costs, which vastly increased the costs of staging the Parade. As previously reported, organisers were unable to meet those costs in 2004 and 2005 so no Parade took place. Supporters of the event criticised Berlin for not better supporting the event, but city officials blamed Love Parade for its own decline, saying that the festival had failed to move with the times.
Confirming that this year's event will go ahead, founder Matthias Roeingh, aka Dr Motte, told reporters this week: "We believe the Love Parade is alive. It's a fitting conclusion to the World Cup."
McFit owner Rainer Schaller added: "The Love Parade is a German export hit. This brand has achieved cult status and is known worldwide. That this mega event should not take place in its homeland just because of financial problems was unacceptable for me."