The Love parade expresses the values of rave culture. To understand the Love Parade as a cultural celebration, it's important to define rave culture. A rave is most simply known as a party (Martin 1999). These parties last for several hours and usually all night long. The main attraction of raves is the constant and rhythmic beat of Techno music that plays while the participants dance for the entire duration of the rave (Hutson 2000). However the music doesn't define the rave culture. The rave culture is defined by the gathering of diverse peoples from all different backgrounds to celebrate a unity through dance, music and the harmonious atmosphere they create as a large mass.

  Traditionally raves have been held in secrecy in undisclosed warehouses and abandoned factories (Hutson 2000). However, more and more raves are being held publicly at such places as small homes and even at organized music festivals (Martin 1999). The location of a rave often depends on the amount of people that are expected to participate. The numbers can range from less than one hundred to over 30, 000 people (Martin 1999). When large numbers of people gather, the diversity of this group increases. Most participants are teenagers or young adults, but their ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds are almost impossible to approximate (Hutson 2000). “Blacks, Whites, Asians, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, heterosexuals, homosexuals, Republicans, Democrats, rich and poor” (Aaronson 1999: 231) can be seen raving together, because the purpose of this culture is to unite people on the dance floor.

  The idea of dancing to the beat of techno music at a rave is believed to “enhance togetherness and transgresses all constructs of difference” (Aaronson 1999: 231). All nationalities, sexualities, genders and social classes can be found at the same rave (Martin 1999). The diversity of peoples demonstrates that the purpose of a rave is a “quest for pleasure” and “transgress social order” (Aaronson 1999: 231). Rave culture creates an atmosphere that is free of social stratification; everyone is gathered in the same place and dancing to the same music (Aaronson 1999). People are celebrating with masses whom they might never interact or socialize with under normal conditions. The dance floor becomes a platform for all types of people to celebrate and enjoy. Ravers become so involved in the beat of the music that they stop caring about who might be dancing next to them. Participants often can't see the face of the person next to them because of a dark dance floor. Many times people are in the middle of a large crowd and because of limited space are forced to interact in close proximity to the people around them. In all of these situations people lose their preconceptions about other people and this helps create a less socially stratified environment.

  The elements of a techno-themed party, dancing, and a diversity of participants all help define rave culture and can all be found at the Love Parade. The Love Parade is an open rave that is held publicly and during the daytime, which contrasts the traditional idea of the secrecy of a rave (Whybrow 2003). The Love Parade is helping make rave culture more popular by bringing it to the public's attention. The music played on the floats through the streets in Berlin is distinctly part of the techno genre and the participants continuously dance to its beats for several hours where the public can see. The crowd is composed of people from all over the world, most of who “aren't from Berlin at all” (Whybrow 2003:314). The dynamics of the crowd at the Love Parade parallels the diverse people involved in the rave culture.

  Another common element of both rave culture and the Love Parade is drug use. Participants in the Love Parade most commonly use marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy while participating in the parade (Borneman et al, 2000). The most common drug used in the Rave Culture is also ecstasy and is considered a “large and influential part of the culture” (Martin 1999: 81). The effect of drugs combined with the unique rhythmic beat of techno music elicits a multi-sensual feeling for the participants as well as creating an infinite time frame in which reality feels timeless (Borneman et al, 2000). The usage of ecstacy allows “the user to dance for hours without stopping” (Martin 1999:82). This type of drug gives the user more energy and also lowers their inhibitions. By lowering their inhibitions, participants often feel abnormally comfortable being close to the other people around them (Martin 1999).

  Many supporters consider the Love Parade to be a modern political demonstration, while most of its critics claim that the Love Parade is the “largest celebration of sanctioned drug-taking in the world” (Whybrow 2003: 313). Berlin 's city council has officially titled the Love Parade as a “political demonstration” (Whybrow 2003). This decision was based on the reasoning that if the event is recognized by the local government, then the city would be responsible to maintain clean streets and safety during the parade. However if the city didn't recognize the parade, then streets are left in complete disarray afterwards causing conflict between residents and participants. Another important factor that persuaded the council to recognize the Love Parade as a political demonstration was the revenue that this event brought to the city. The city wasn't willing to take the risk of having this event move to another city and losing the potential business of millions of people attending the Love Parade.

  The locations of raves are often based on the ability to accommodate a party of large magnitude, but the Love Parade has more symbolic reasoning for its location. The city of Berlin, and Strasse des 17 Juni in particular, have been popular locations for political demonstrations in the past. In 1953, there was an East German worker's uprising that occurred in this location because of differing opinions on “raised production norms” which turned into a country wide strike that lasted two days (Whybrow 2003: 299). In this particular section of the capital city, several memorials have been built in remembrance of all those who fought for political freedom in both World Wars I and II. The exact point in which the Love parade crowd meets in the middle (see Figure 2), is the Grosser Stern where the Prussian Victory Column is located. This point is where five different streets all meet together and is symbolic for unity and also for the five points of a star (Whybrow 2003). The struggle for national independence, freedom from the dictatorship of their own leadership and the formation of a unified Federal Republic of Germany have all been fought in the city of Berlin and most publicly memorialized on Strasse des 17 Juni. Berlin is truly a great city for a cultural celebration that embraces peace and unity.