Floats 2023

“BAM MOBIL” – who else might stand behind this float name than Love Parade legend Westbam himself, powered by the crew of No Limits Berlin. They include photographer Guido Schulz and video artist Hanna von Beeskov, both longtime friends and companions.

“We want freedom of expression! And freedom of expression means that if we want to express ourselves through music, neither the police nor the court or the government shall tell us, ‘You have to hold a speech’. Because then we feel oppressed in our freedom of expression, as freedom of how to express is also a part of it.”
(Quote: Westbam)

The techno collective Concrete Berlin is an organizer and label from Berlin. For about 4 years now, they’ve been hosting parties with a soundscape that expresses itself in all facets of techno. From hardgroove, oldschool techno, hypnotic and industrial, to hardcore.

They understand rave as a protest movement and are strongly focused on the unity of the early days of techno. Therefore, they are focused on celebrating the music in a unified way, as it was in the beginning of the scene.

7 founders, 44 active members and about 220 friends and more make up the Culturama crew.

The association Culturama e.V. is committed to a freely creative cultural landscape, which includes clubs festivals, street festivals demonstrations and open airs.

With their truck they have been enchanting festivals like the Feel, the Fusion or their own organized events for years. It is equipped with solar panels and stores the green electricity in batteries. Only if really necessary, a generator will step in.

“We try to keep our waste as small as possible through good planning and sustainable products. For example, by using a reusable deposit system for water bottles for helpers. Our CARE team will additionally keep an extra eye on it. Our decoration will be reused and comes from Anomalie club.”

“Der weiße Hase” is a small club in the heart of Berlin, more precisely, on the RAW area at Warschauer Strasse. It has 2 floors with mainly electronic music like house, tech house and techno.

The concept is intentionally and lovingly kept a bit rancid to celebrate the spirit of the 90s and early noughties. The team describes itself as “a bunch of exotics” that wants to offer its guests freedom, diversity and a space to retreat. This is a place where you live and feel true family vibes.

“Music and love make us all celebrate peacefully together. Music is the answer!!!”

The Elmonauts are a techno community that now counts about 14,000 party people who love and live techno across generations.

During the heavy pandemic period, the community around long-time Sunshine Live DJ and radio host Eric SSL came together on Twitch and has been celebrating techno music of all genres and times at numerous real, virtual and hybrid events ever since.

Openness, helpfulness and a sense of togetherness characterize the Elmonauts, whose “heraldic animal” is the adorable Elmo from Sesame Street.

Freak de L’Afrique is a Berlin-based BPoc collective of DJs, MCs, dancers and promoters.

Since its foundation in 2012, the crew has been committed to spreading modern sounds of the African continent and its diaspora in Berlin’s club culture. Furthermore, it is important to Freak de L’Afrique to expand the variety and diversity of the Berlin club scene on many levels. For example, women have been visible players in the collective from the start and it has always been important to include LGTBQI*.

Freak de L’Afrique have, not least through their forward-thinking and boundary-breaking concept as well as their innovative event management and marketing, challenged the German event scene and established different African music styles as an essential part of the Berlin club scene. In recent years, the collective has managed to unite a diverse audience that shares a common passion for the electrification of African club music.

First underground house & hip hop jams in 1988! First homebase in the basement of Fusion Club in 1989. First club with Dockland in in 1994. First own truck at the Love Parade in 1996. Opening of the club “Fusion” in 1997. Docklands Festival since 2010. Kanello Galore Open Airs since 2013. The Island Festival since 2017.

“The passion for honest electronic music and everything else that grooves has been driving us constantly for 35 years. The joy is still the same as on day one.”

Techno – love – tolerance. HIVE Festival and Symbiotikka join forces!

Originally taking off at Tutow Airfield, this year HIVE Festival is soaring to new heights at Ferropolis. With 6 stages, including the Symbiotikka Hall, it brings together a diverse range of artists and sounds. HIVE has made a name for itself with its hard-hitting beats, impressively showcased at UNHOLY in Astra Kulturhaus and the HIVE New Year’s Eve event at Club Ost in Berlin.

Symbiotikka is a sex-positive event series that takes place every Wednesday at Berlin’s KitKat Club, carving out its reputation in the kinky scene. Freedom, respect, love, and music take center stage to create an ideal atmosphere of comfort.

“Openness, compassion, diversity – that’s our mission. Our crew represents a world without prejudice, where everyone has their place. Together, we strive for a society that fosters acceptance and unity. Our goal is to create an inclusive and respectful environment where everyone can be free to be themselves, just as they are.”

NADA BRAHMA –  „The universe is sound and everything is being in oscillation.“

Since 2018, collective founder Chris has arrived in the universe of the Berlin KitKat Club. He and his loving team created a quite exceptional event: “Human Colours”.

With the event series, the crew behind the impressive name “stereoAKTIV” wants to celebrate the facets of human existence, in its colorful and individual diversity. Music – sound – is the unifying element that transcends man-made boundaries. The universe is full of colors and sounds that vibrate together.

“For over 20 years now our collective has been building up a loving network of great musicians with local friends from the Kiez, who are ‘stereoAKTIV’ with their hearts and souls. Our motto is ‘One for all and all for one’.”

Indielectrik was formed in 2018 from the idea to create an intermediate space for music of different electronic genres and to offer artists a platform in the form of small festivals. Whether you create a certain musical feeling with guitars, or electronic sound generators, is not initially important.

What is important is the unifying spirit that, far from dogmas, allows a spiritual and musical expansion of horizons.

INSTYTUT is the largest and most iconic Techno brand from Poland, with 20+ years of successful underground events. It originates from a series of mass events organized in an iconic place in Warsaw – the Institute of Energy.

In 2018 another project was born – INSTYTUT FESTIVAL – recognizable throughout Poland and abroad. 2023 marked the beginning of INSTYTUT’s record label – INSTYTUT RECORDS.

junk-E-vents and junk-E-tracks are the event organization and label of Berlin-based multi instrumentalist and live artist junk-E-cat.

“Harry” is the name of their vehicle, a Mercedes Düdo modified into a stage, built in 1975. It is festival and demo proven, fully equipped with sound system and generator since long. The line-up is a quite colorful style mix of live acts and DJs with junk-E-cat as host.

Kittball has been successfully releasing electronic music in the house and tech house genre for 15 years and has made a name for itself in the scene both nationwide and internationally. The label was founded by Tube & Berger and has been co-managed by Juliet Sikora ever since.

“With the ‘Kittball’ brand we are represented annually with our own stages at various festivals in Germany or internationally. We are known nationally for our local events, and internationally for our music.”

Lichtblick and Freigeist are two Cologne communities made up of art and culture professionals and promoters of the Cologne music scene.

They’ve been working since the mid-90s to create free cultural spaces where people can legally and in accordance with all municipal and official regulations create a safe space where it is possible to unfold freely and self-determined in harmony with mother nature as well as our beloved electronic subculture. Free from social constraints and boundaries! Free from racism and exclusion!

The goal of the Freigeist-Crew is to bring old and young people together in a sustainable way. Their premise has always a social character as well. At Freigeist Open Airs, no one is left standing at the door, even if someone is short of money.

“All materials on our float will be reused multiple times. That means no single-use cups, banners will be repurposed at events, and we’ll pay a carbon offset.”

NATURE ONE is one largest festivals for electronic music worldwide. 65K people gather every year on the first weekend of August at Raketenbasis Pydna (Kastellaun/RLP) to rave for four days and three nights. 350 DJs spin all styles of electronic music on four headfloors and 18 clubfloors presented by scene clubs, promoters, and labels. The accompanying CampingVillage spreads out over 100 hectares of grasslands and is known as the craziest campsite.

The Open Beatz Festival is one of the biggest festivals for electronic music in southern Germany. Every year, at the end of July, it attracts thousands of people to Herzogenaurach (near Nuremberg) with a top-class lineup, an extraordinary program and a unique atmosphere.

The organizers of this festival know club culture and about its importance in the society very well. Therefore, together with Rave The Planet, they demand the recognition of electronic music as a cultural asset, because: Music Is The Answer!

Happy Birthday! This year the Berlin label Ostfunk celebrates a milestone birthday. For 20 years now, it’s been an integral part of the Berlin party scene. In earlier times the name stood for techno and deep house. But since 2013 there is always a goa stage at the events as well.

The same crew has been organizing the “Goanautika” events for 7 years now. Meanwhile, it is one of the important psy-trance events in the city. Both event series bring together several electronic music genres. From techno and goa to techhouse and the somewhat harder styles.

Responsible for both event series are the techno artists Daniel Boon and Basstronauten. Two familiar faces, not only in the Berlin scene.

Paradise Worldwide is a Berlin-based music company operating globally to promote the exchange of technology and culture. The company optimises the trajectory of independent artists and labels through data-driven music distribution, royalty collection, and artist development.

As a prominent force in the industry, Paradise is a unit of the “Get Played, Get Paid” campaign spearheaded by the AFEM. This movement champions the recognition of electronic music and advocates for remuneration for creators in terms of music rights and royalties.

Rave The Planet is a Berlin based non-profit organization dedicated to the spirit and culture of electronic music. They aim to promote and preserve techno culture, as well as to raise awareness for important social and environmental issues.

The name “Rave The Planet” reflects the belief in the power of electronic music and rave culture to bring people together and inspire positive change.

As the organizing crew of the “Rave The Planet Parade” demonstration, of course their float is a must. Let’s rave the planet – MUSIC IS THE ANSWER!

Revolver Party Events is a Berlin team that takes pride in the topic of “inclusive events”. They want to form a real link for the many, different and partly divided groups of the LGTBQ+ scene.

“Where others tend to discriminate, we actively work to provide a safe space for all.”

Save Our Scene UK was founded in 2020 to act as a leading voice for the British live music industry during the pandemic. In addition to their content service for promoters, they also organize House, Techno and Drum & Bass events themselves. They donate a % of their profits to music charities and other important causes.

SOS organized “Freedom to Dance”, one of the biggest creative industry demonstrations the UK has ever seen.

Their founder, George, has made it his mission to make SOS an international movement. He wants to highlight the positivity that music brings to all of our lives, while making a positive impact within the scene and beyond.

This float’s crew is an international collective of promoters, record labels and activists in the electronic music scene. Their musical focus is on techno and hardtechno.

The participants are Hexenwerk Festival, Volume Berlin Records, Trendwænde Vienna (event), Christian Grade (scene activist, producer & DJ), Mijk van Dijk a.k.a. Microglobe (scene activist, producer & DJ).

SYNERGY means: an interaction or cooperation giving rise to something that is greater than the sum of its parts.  Our float represents what can be achieved independently when smaller crews and friends work together and imagine something truly unique and special.

SYNERGY float brings together two party crews: Rave For Good e.V, and Zapped.Berlin and an independent record label, Caterpillar Audio.  For the 2023 “Music Is The Answer” event, Caterpillar Audio, a female/queer run electronic label joins forces with Rave For Good non-profit & Zapped.Berlin minimal crew.  Rave For Good e.V is an organisation with the goal to make the world a better place through dance, art and music.  They raise funds through rave events that are then given to humanitarian and crisis charities in need all over the world.  SYNERGY wants to celebrate and acknowledge the hardworking underground DJs, Crews, and Sound Engineers as well as bartenders, club workers, musical & visual artists from Berlin and beyond.  We are excited to work alongside party crew Zapped.Berlin to bring some fresh minded minimal, house, techno, and rave vibes to RTP this year.  Our crew would not be complete without our incredible street artists!  Float design, build & urban/street art done by ORBLE & Friends.

“We stand in solidarity with Rave The Planet, demanding ‘Unconditional basic income for artists and cultural workers’. Our team is made up of a perfectly curated mixture of people from all corners of the earth.  We have diverse cultural backgrounds but with one common focus: our love for music and rave culture.”

The Time Machine is occupied by people united by their love of Cologne, Paris and techno. It started its time travel with an acid phase in the 90s and is also flown into the future by the famous pilots Isabelle Beaucamp and Jens Mahlstedt with analogue technic(s), loops & tings and 3.1 times warp speed. The Time Machine is based in Cologne and Berlin – with regular high-speed time jumps to Paris, Rome, Tel Aviv and New York.

Since the mid-nineties, the crew members of Wicked Tunes have been inspired by techno. In order to give something back to culture, they have been making their contribution with events since 2007.

Besides organizing shows and parties in clubs and on parades, on ships, at open airs and with music productions, their activities reach far beyond the borders of Germany.