Quirky, unabashed and crazy fun, the Street Zurich Parade is where you should be this August!
If anyone is talking about parade festivals, it’s almost impossible not to mention the Berlin Love Parade. The insanely popular electronic dance music festival that started up in 1989. As you can imagine, it has quite a bit of history. It was started by the Berlin underground at the initiative of Matthias Roeingh (also known as ‘Dr Motte’) and his then-girlfriend Danielle de Picciotto.
(Credits: www.bootlegsocialrecords.com)
It was conceived as a political demonstration for peace and international understanding through love and music. It brought together people from countries all over the world to come and celebrate just about anything and everything. We are going to go ahead and call it the Woodstock of Parades. It’s not even an overestimation.The festival parade has always stood for a greater cause until it was very unceremoniously ended when 21 people lost their lives in 2010. More about that later.
So if you’re wondering why we are talking about the BERLIN Love Parade in an article about the Street Parade Zurich, it’s because to understand just how awesome Street Parade Zurich, you need to understand its influences. One of the biggest of which is the Berlin Love Parade. Zurich mathematics student Marek Krynski was inspired by the free spirit of the Berlin Parade.On 24 July 2010, a crowd surge at the Love Parade caused the death of 21 people, with at least 500 others injured. After this, there were no more Love Parades. But this was the greatest opportunity for Krynski, who was already a big fan of what the Parade stood for, to take his ongoing Zurich parades to the next level. Thus was born the Street Parade Zurich!
Why you need to go there
(Credits: Verein Street Parade, Zurich)
If you need us to tell you why in a few words, well it’s because it is the craziest, the most raucous party you’re ever going to go to. Street Parade Zürich is one of the most electrifying house and techno parades in the world. The event draws thousands of people from around the globe who come to dance and see the Love Mobiles, colourful and brightly decorated trucks equipped with massive sound systems blasting live DJ sets. 30 love mobiles, 600 DJs or acts, and 7 stages for one million people, to be precise.
The vibe is to die for
(Credits: Verein Street Parade, Zurich)
Picture us this, countless enthusiastic people (age no bar) coming together for one helluva beautiful day long festival that. Also, wait till you hear the lineup! This year they’ve got acts such as Carl Cox, Deepend, Art Department and Audio Fly performing. It’s hard to believe that the festival started with just a thousand or so people chilling by the breathtaking Lake Zurich which also serves as the perfect backdrop for this extravaganza. It is the most highly regarded street festival in the world and the brilliant organising deserves a mention for sure. Surprisingly, the festival isn’t even an annoyance to the locals and they are known to exuberantly take part in the festivities. Local businesses thrive on the on the multitudes of people eager to get a taste of Swiss culture. What’s more, the founder of the original Berlin Parade Matthias Roeingh aka Dr. Motte has made a sizeable contribution to this festival!