Zurich stands by its techno music festival

Hundreds of thousands of people gather on the shore of Lake Zurich to dance to the rhythms of techno music swissinfo.ch

Zurich’s Street Parade is relying on its experience and on a detailed security concept to avoid a mass panic similar to the stampede in the German city of Duisburg.

Organisers say they don’t expect the Zurich event, scheduled for August 14, to suffer a significant drop in the number of participants. They are confident that such techno music events have a future in Switzerland.

“We are deeply shocked about the incident at the 2010 Duisburg Love Parade. Our thoughts are with all the victims, the injured and their families,” a statement by the Zurich organising committee said.

On Saturday at least 20 people were killed and more than 500 others injured in a mass panic around an overcrowded tunnel that served as the sole entrance to the festival.

“Of course we are in a subdued mood,” says Stefan Epli, spokesman of the Zurich organisers. But he adds that there are no links between Duisburg and Zurich.

“We have always gone our own way and will remain independent in the years to come,” Epli told swissinfo.ch.

The Love Parade – launched in Berlin in the 1990’s before it moved to Duisburg – is considered a model for similar events around the world.

Security concept

Zurich insists on its own security concept which is adapted to the location and is being reviewed every year with police and ambulance services, organisers say.

“The festival takes place in the middle of the city. The various streets that lead to the parade also serve as emergency exit routes,” says Epli.

Organisers also took steps to avoid overcrowding on the Quai Bridge over the Limmat river for security reasons.

Stages were set up right before and after the busy bridge hoping to draw spectators away from the passage.

Epli sees no reason why the whole security concept should be drastically changed, but it is being reviewed as requested by the city authorities following the disaster in Duisburg.

Epli also points out that the security chief of Zurich Street Parade has a long experience.

“He is an old hand. It will be his 17th Street Parade. Our festival probably has the longest-serving crew,” he says.

Little impact

Zurich doesn’t expect a significant drop in the number of participants on August 14 on the streets of Switzerland’s largest city.

“We have a faithful following, not only ravers from Switzerland but also from nearby southern Germany, France, Italy and Belgium,” he says.

Epli dismisses speculation that techno music might lose its attraction as a result of the incident in Duisburg.

He says a fatal mistake by one organiser will not stop the hundreds of thousands of people who like electronic music from going to clubs and listen to house and techno.

“We are very well organised and are convinced such parties have a future in Switzerland,” Epli says.

A statement which hardly comes as a big surprise as observers point out. After all the Zurich Street Parade has long become a important commercial factor for the city, attracting hundreds of thousands of party goers.

Renat Künzi, swissinfo.ch (adapted from German by Urs Geiser)

Love Parade

The Love Parade in Germany is consider the ‘Mother of all Love Parades’ around the world.

It was originally held in Berlin before it moved to the Ruhr region near the Dutch border.

A stampede at the 2010 event in Duisburg killed at least 19 people. As result the organisers of the festival announced no further Love Parade would be held.

The committee faces allegations that it failed to heed warnings by police that Duisburg was not suited as a location for festival.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said she expected a “scrupulously thorough investigation”.

Street Parade

The Zurich Street Parade is the second biggest event of its kind in Europe.

It was launched in 1992 and attracted between 650,000 and one million participants in the past ten years.

This year’s event is scheduled for August 14 along the lake shores of Switzerland’s biggest city.