Pubdate: Sun, 09 Jul 2000
Source: Star-Ledger (NJ)
Copyright: 2000 Newark Morning Ledger Co.
Contact:  1 Star-Ledger Plaza, Newark, N.J., 07102-1200
Website: http://www.nj.com/starledger/
Forum: http://www.nj.com/forums/
Author: Associated Press

ONE MILLION MOVE TO TECHNO BEAT IN BERLIN'S LOVE PARADE

Berlin - Driven by thundering beats, about 1 million techno music fans 
packed the streets of central Berlin yesterday for the annual Love Parade - 
the world's biggest dance party of its kind.

A high-spirited mass of people, most from Germany but many from abroad, 
jammed Berlin's main axis stretching west from the Brandenburg Gate and 
past the Victory Column with its golden angel on top. Organizers expected 
the crowd to reach a record 1.7 million people.

"It's cool, it's outrageous and everyone is having a good time," said 
Andrew Lin, a 21-year-old from New Jersey who dropped in on the party 
during a European trip.

A simultaneous parade in Leeds, England, was meant to underline this year's 
motto of "One World, One Love Parade" and what organizers say is the 
music's power to bring people together across borders.

"Techno is a movement, a youth culture, not a fashion," said parade 
spokesman Enric Nitzsche. "It connects people from all over the world and 
lets them party and have fun together peacefully."

Booming beats came from 52 sound trucks moving along the route in Berlin, 
where traffic ceded to bobbing orange-and green-haired youths sporting 
sunglasses and skimpy attire despite cloudy weather.

With beer and party drugs fueling much of the action and mounds of trash to 
sweep up afterward, not everyone took a benign view of what organizers 
dubbed a "parade for respect, tolerance, communication between peoples and 
love."

Police spoke of "the world's biggest drug party," estimating that $25 
million worth of illicit substances were sold at last year's parade. To 
help cut down on garbage, drinks along the main route were being sold in 
recyclable cups for the first time.
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