Berlin draws techno fans

BERLIN -- Hundreds of thousands of techno music fans -- many in costume, others in not much at all -- jammed into the German capital Saturday for the annual Love Parade.\nYouthful partygoers from across Germany and beyond danced on and alongside some 30 trucks pounding out club tracks as they converged slowly in Berlin's Tiergarten park. Police estimated the crowd at over a half-million, while organizers put the turnout at 750,000.\nUnder this year's motto "Love Rules," the parade culminated at the city's landmark Victory Column, close to the Brandenburg Gate, with programs running late into the night from top disc jockeys such as Felix Da Housecat, Pete Tong and Love Parade founder Dr. Motte.\nBegun in 1989 as a small procession of 150 ravers protesting for the right to party in a city still divided by the Berlin Wall, the parade mushroomed after German reunification the next year into a Berlin institution and a massive draw for partyers as well as tourists.\nTo the dismay of the city's hoteliers, attendance has slipped from a peak of 1.5 million in 1999. But the event continues defying predictions of its demise and still draws international disc jockeys to events around the city that keep dedicated clubbers dancing for days.\nOrganizers said in March they were struggling to raise the $1.7 million needed to keep the tradition going. Although enough sponsors eventually stepped in to keep it going another year, the streets appeared less packed Saturday than in the past.\nThat was despite the efforts of some 1,600 police officers and 400 stewards to keep partygoers out of park areas fenced off to prevent littering. Some 600 portable toilets were installed to head off criticism from residents and environmental groups.\nThe fencing also was meant to keep out the usual hordes of impromptu food and drink sellers so that official vendors -- and the organizers -- could get more of the take.\nMore than 800 first-aid personnel were on duty Saturday. At least 30 people were detained by police and a similar number taken to the hospital. Two people were seriously injured in falls.\nIn an effort backed by the German Red Cross, part of the proceeds from Love Parade souvenirs will help fund the construction of two rehabilitation centers in Iraq for civilians hurt by mines and in recent fighting.