Tel
Aviv Love Parade
This
21-22 October 2005
Picture
courtesy http://www.pbase.com/
By
Michael Lundell
Tel
Aviv will have its eighth love parade in a row this October, with
even love parade founding city Berlin backing out this year due to scheduling
problems. If anywhere needs a thing called a "love parade"
it is the country of Israel.
The parade and resulting
festivities are a celebration of human love, supposedly. What this means
ultimately is that there will be hundreds of thousands of young people
wearing very little, probably drinking, possibly doing other things
all gathered to channel good vibes and peaceful energies.
It kind of turns
into a sexuality display of very untraditional behavior and exhibition.
Think Folsom Street Fair meets the Middle East. This year's parade is
expected to draw up to 250,000. So if you think you are heading to Tel
Aviv during this time for some relaxing tourist activities, think again…
On the Friday of
the celebration there is a huge parade, winding its way through the
streets of the city. Spectators and exhibitors mix and blur the lines
between the seen and the unseen. On the floats are usually DJ exhibits
with world famous club DJs (think Ibiza, Ayia
Napa, Koh Phangan Full Moon Parties…) and hordes of dancing
people. Each float is sponsored by a nearby club and each club tries
to outdo each other every year.
The crowd dresses
garishly, wearing whatever they want, or nothing at all. People dance
around, hug and kiss each other, and display feelings of "love,
love, love." There is a strong gay contingent to the parade, and
Israel is slowly making strides in its support of the Gay community.
At the end of the
parade the floats gather and form one massive outdoor club that lasts
long into the next dawn's light. This year the destination is the Charles
Klor Park in the city. This year's Love Parade will also last for three
days, and events will take place all throughout the city and beaches
of Tel Aviv.
The Love Parade
is free, of course.
<---back
to news blog
