Through sheer luck I was able to attend this years Loveparade music festival, a "Things to do before I die" moment. I didn't find out this was going on until the night before. It's basically a parade that started as a demonstration in Berlin. Over the years the crowd grew and the music portion, mostly electronic dance music, got bigger. This year's crowd drew 1.6 million people from all around the world all dancing on the open streets of Dortmund, Germany. I personally met people from Japan, Finland, Bulgaria, Belgium, Netherlands, US, and, of course, Germany. Here are some pictures I captured on my phone. Gas prices are really going to hell. These floats circle around the city in two concentric circles going in opposite directions. Big crowd but only half as big as the line for the new iPhone at the Apple Store. There were mud everywhere for the first half of the parade. Damn you rain! This is the mainstage where the big names play until 12am. Loveparade 2008 is brought to you by beer! No party is complete without midgets. Moby He doesn't look it but he's a really nice guy. I hung out with Timo, his gf, sister, and their friends for most of the night. Even gave me a self-made goth ring to remember him by. Underworld was the closing act. I'm somewhere close!

Oh, wow...that looks awesome! We had the Rothbury Festival 10 minutes away, but that was mostly hippie jam-bands (DMB was the headlining act) and other than Primus and Snoop Dogg I wasn't all that interested in the acts. That Loveparade festival looks more my speed...I love The Prodigy and Moby is pretty cool, too. I'll bet that guy with the reptilian contacts was cool. Often seems like the freakiest looking people have the most open and friendly personalities.

Damn, FREE?! Ok, that is extra cool. Rothbury started at ~$250 for 4 days and nights of camping in a horse pasture...