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Technoparade

(Redirected from List of technoparades)

A technoparade (taken from the German word "Technoparade") is a parade of vehicles equipped with strong loudspeakers and amplifiers playing electronic dance music. It resembles a carnival parade in some respects, but the vehicles (called lovemobiles) are usually less elaborately decorated.[citation needed] Unlike some carnival parades, a technoparade does not share the tradition of bombarding the spectators with sweets.[citation needed] However, the revellers do occasionally throw confetti (usually larger and more sparkly than that in a carnival parade) and spray foam from the vehicles onto the crowd.[citation needed]

Technoparade
A DJ mixing music and multiple dancers at the Paris Techno Parade. The equipment is onboard the float, which has a large speaker setup for the moving crowd.
General Information
Related genresTrance music, electronic dance music, goa, dub techno, psychedelic trance, happy hardcore, etc.
LocationGermany (origin)
Worldwide
Related eventsMusic festival, carnival parade, rave, doof, algorave, trance festivals, electronic dance music festivals, teknivals
Related topicsLive electronic music

Nearly all of the vehicles are converted trucks.[citation needed] In order to power the amplifiers, the trucks are frequently equipped with an additional electrical generator.[citation needed] For safety reasons, horse-drawn floats are never used in technoparades: there would be a danger of horses panicking from the noise and chaos.[citation needed] However, there are occasional human-drawn floats equipped with generators, record players, amplifiers and loudspeakers.[citation needed] Some of the vehicles allow people to ride along, for a fee.[citation needed] For those on the sidelines, or travelling alongside on foot or bicycles, attendance is free.[citation needed]

Official program

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The official program of a technoparade is generally not as important as what happens informally.[citation needed] In contrast to a carnival parade, the vehicles are little more than flatbed trucks with sound equipment, rather than elaborately decorated floats.[citation needed] There are usually no fireworks or other traditional elements of large celebrations.[citation needed] Technoparades are rarely linked to anniversaries of historical events:[citation needed] they usually simply take place in the summer to take advantage of the good weather.[citation needed]

However, in Germany technoparades are usually officially registered as a political demonstration and thus have an appropriate motto. That way techno fans have a constitutional right to dance in the streets, and any objections from the authorities to noise and traffic obstructions are overruled and the cities also have to pay for security and cleaning up the streets afterwards.[1]

Character

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DJs deliver a constant stream of music from the parade trucks.

Technoparades generally have a carnival atmosphere,[citation needed] where social rules (and some laws, or at least their enforcement) are at least loosened, and sometimes broken outright.[citation needed] An atmosphere of chaos and tolerance prevails[citation needed] as bystanders dance to the shifting sounds of successive vehicles rolling by them:[citation needed] the music blasting from one vehicle blends into that from another,[citation needed] which can mean a sudden change of dance style in the area where the spheres of influence overlap.[citation needed] The music coming from two sound trucks overlaps with approximately equal intensity,[citation needed] and people can dance to either of two competing rhythms.[citation needed] In the technoparade subculture they call this the Verwirrungsgebiet ("overlap zone") by analogy to a concept in radio frequency engineering.[citation needed]

The street allows for a type of dancing that would be literally impossible in cramped German nightclubs[citation needed], and the breadth of some people's dancing is further exaggerated as they throw their clothes outwards.[citation needed] Some in the crowd generally climb up to any high point that can possibly be scaled, more and more as the event continues.[citation needed] The spirit is usually continued at after-parties in the local nightclubs[citation needed], sometimes including unofficial after-parties at venues having no official connection to the parade.[citation needed]

Problems

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Law enforcement is often lax at Technoparades.
 
Although not intended, sometimes things get destroyed by visitors of techno parades. The rain tube shown on the picture was torn down by a man in a slap-stick like manner when he tried to climb down from the roof of the building at the left on Street Parade 1997. At Street Parade 1998, it laid still at the place where it was put one year ago

Technoparades are not without problems:

  • They are regarded by some participants as a license to consume illegal drugs.[citation needed]
  • A few technoparades have been exploited by makers of pornographic films.[citation needed]
  • There is an inherent danger of accidents as people climb on and off moving vehicles.[citation needed]
  • Technoparades usually have big crowds and few toilets, especially because the companies that rent out chemical toilets will not happily rent to technoparades; the crowds tend to climb on the roofs of the toilet structures, which are not built to withstand the weight. Some well-constructed toilets do exist, but not enough to serve the entire technoparade.[citation needed]

Major events

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Main page: Category:Technoparade

World's largest

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Count of participants for the Love Parade (blue) and Street Parade (red)

Germany

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5 big technoparades of the 1990s and early 2000s:

Parades with a political character:

Small town or onetime moves:

  • Night Move, Cologne (1994)
  • Future Parade, Brockhagen (1997–2003)
  • Beatparade, Empfingen (since 1998)
  • Numerous others

Austria

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Switzerland

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Other

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    Franconia-Love-Truck 1995
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    Paraders dancing in front of the massive speakers carried by the parade trucks at the 2006 Paris Techno Parade.
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    Lake-Parade-2001
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    The July Column during the 2006 Techno Parade in Paris, France
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    Beat on the Street Basel
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    Lake Parade 2007
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    LovEvolution 2009
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    LovEvolution 2009
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    LovEvolution 2009
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    LovEvolution 2009

Similar Events

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Similar to technoparades, electronic dance events have also been organized using other moving vehicles such as boats and trams. In contrast to technoparades which are characterized by free participation on the street, in this case only the passengers on the vessels or inside the trams are part of the event. An example for a boatparade is the Berlin Beats & Boats event which takes place annually since 2009 and involves up to 14 swimming dancefloors.[2] A regular Housetram event has been organized by Monika Kruse in Munich since 1995.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Corpus Techno: The music of the future will soon be history". MUNICHfound.com. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  2. ^ "Berlin Beats & Boats on the river Spree" (in German). tip Redaktion. 9 July 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  3. ^ Gruban, Patrick. "Review: Munich Union Move" (in German). X-Letter. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
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  Media related to Technoparades at Wikimedia Commons

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