The French city of Strasbourg became a 'free party area' on Saturday 15 April, when around 3000 people gathered for the "European Alternatives Resistance" Sound-System Parade [Flyers]. The protest was called by Free 4 Euroalternatives, a loose coalition of sound systems, free party and festival organisers, squats and people from around Europe.
The parade was a show of defiance to the increasing levels of repression against non-commercial and autonomous forms of culture, and in particular to protest about last summer's brutal attack by Czech police against the Czechtek tekno festival. This event was widely considered as the 'breaking point', when police in riot gear steamed into dancing people with baton charges and tear gas attacks. As a result, two people died and over 50 were seriously injured. [See Czech Teknival attack feature]
The demonstration passed peacefully with people dancing to music played by several mobile sound systems, and it ended with different parties across Strasbourg. Some of the banners read "Nothing Stops People Who Dance", "Free Party! Free People!", "Respect Our Rights" and "Against Police Brutality". One of the organisers said: "We chose Strasbourg because the city accommodates several European institutions, in particular the European Court of the humans right, to which we intend to immediately address a letter after the demonstration".
Photos and Czech TV news report
Photo Galleries 1 | 2 | 3
View of the Teknoparade in Strasbourg
Report from the Newswire:
Meanwhile back in the UK, over the Easter bank holiday weekend two major multi-rig parties went off. One in S Wales, the other near Peterborough.
The free party scene here in the uk has been increasingly under attack since last year, when the authorities switched tactics and started using the fairly recently amended Public Entertainments License (PEL) legislation against parties. It used to be that the police had a hard job to prove who was an organiser of any given party, but thanks to the changes, almost anyone who brings or drives PA speakers or electronic musical equipment, records, lights (ie 'infrastructure') etc to the site can be classed as an organiser.
The aggressive use of this amended PEL law last year saw an increased number of seizures of sound systems at parties, more arrests, and importantly more prosecutions and pending prosecutions against members of sound system crews. Many have responded by keeping the information about their parties off the web, encouraging people not to publish photos of parties, and during the winter some have opted to hold members only parties.
The uk has a long history of the persecution of free festivals and parties, this is the latest chapter.
The nanny/control-freak-state seems to increase its reach every week, clamping down further and further both on unlicensed fun and civil liberties. That said, week in week out, free parties kick off all over the country every weekend.
Here comes the summer...
