Sawt Falasteen - Thousands celebrate Berlin techno music festival

Organisers of "Rave the Planet" expected around 25,000 people for the dance and music parade, which started in rainy conditions at the Ku'damm thoroughfare.

The march was initiated by famous DJ Dr Motte, whose "Love Parade" festival played an instrumental role in creating Berlin's reputation as Europe's techno music capital after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

The event, postponed last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will cover seven kilometres (four miles) and cross west Berlin before finishing at the Victory Column in Tiergarten Park, one of the city's major landmarks.

In 1989, Dr Motte created the Love Parade, which became a globally recognised event in the following years, and kicked off proceedings on Saturday.

The DJ, 62, denounced the Love Parade's commercialisation, called for a universal basic income for artists and asked for Berlin's techno culture to be added to UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list, according to regional channel RBB.

The Love Parade reached its peak in 1999 when 1.5 million party-goers, many wearing costumes, gathered behind vehicles blaring out loud techno music.

On 24 July that year, 21 people died in a stampede when panic broke out in a narrow tunnel that served as the only entrance and exit to the event. More than 650 people were also injured.

J.AbuShaban--SF-PST