That’s what the organizer says about the upcoming Street Parade in Zurich
Thousands dance to techno beats at the 2018 Street Parade in Zurich. Image: KEYSTONE
Street Parade is on August 13th – for the first time since Corona. In an interview, Joel Meier, President of the Street Parade association, says how he got through the pandemic and what has changed as a result.
matthias scharrer and sven hoti / switzerland at the weekend
An older Street Parade poster hangs on the wall behind him in the open-plan office near Zurich’s Langstrasse. Two electric guitars are leaning against the wall next to the sofa. Welcome to the world of Joel Meier.
The 49-year-old is president of the Street Parade association and editor of the magazine “Rckstr”; he also organizes events and festivals, from the Caliente, which is being continued this weekend at the Zurich barracks area, to the Greenfield and the Gampel Open Air. The pandemic-damaged business is gradually picking up again. The Street Parade, the largest techno party in the world, will also take place again in Zurich on August 13 after being canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to Corona.
For the first time since 2019 there will be a street parade in Zurich. What feelings does that trigger?
Joel Meier: After 1000 days! Of course we are happy. But it’s also harder than ever. We didn’t expect that the parade could take place again this year. After we had to write off financial reserves two years in a row because of Corona, only the bare minimum was done: guard the phone, empty the mailbox and keep the ball low. Our team shrank from 13 to six people, the rest left because there was no work.
Still, what are you looking forward to in particular?
I’m happy that people are happy that this type of event is happening again. We feel that at the festivals, the echo is enormous.
Joel Meier (49) has been president of the Street Parade association since 2008. He lives in Wilen near Wollerau SZ.Image: Keystone
How do you feel that?
The facial expression and the art of how people treat each other, even now on the Caliente. I have never experienced such a peaceful Caliente festival as last weekend. Because people are just happy that it’s happening again – and aren’t in a destructive mood. They enjoy breaking out of everyday life.
The number of corona cases has recently increased again. Does that also make you, as the organiser, afraid that the Street Parade could still become a superspreader event?
We have a completely different starting point than in the first two years of the pandemic. The first thing we learned is: For younger people – of course, there is also Long Covid – Corona is not life-threatening. And: We have a high level of basic immunity in the population. Practically everyone is vaccinated and/or has had Corona. All of this helps to keep hospital admissions within limits. The motto of politics at the moment is: People have to protect themselves. If we don’t do the parade now, it will never happen again. Because we have used up our last reserves for this year’s edition. For us there is only the flight forward – unless the state cancels the events again and pays compensation.
Are there any adjustments to the Street Parade concept due to the pandemic?
All measures have now been lifted. And the risk of infection is minimal. The Street Parade takes place outside, the visitors circulate with the Love Mobiles. You never really stand next to the same person for ten minutes, but are constantly on the move. It is different with the arrival and departure. But that now also applies to commutes. The health risk at Street Parade is probably less than going to work in an open-plan office.
“We hope that we can build on 2019 and carry out the Street Parade in the usual quality or even better.”
So will everything be the same as always?
Yes, we hope that we can build on 2019 and carry out the Street Parade in the usual quality or even better. There WILL be more hand washing opportunities though.
The events industry lost a lot of staff during the pandemic. How does that work?
It’s horror. 90 percent of the people we have dying now have never done it. You have to explain every move. Many have left the events industry because they simply cannot afford the wage cuts caused by the pandemic. I understand that they are not coming back now. Anyone who now has a secure job elsewhere no longer wants to take the risk that events may be canceled again in autumn.
After the reserves were largely used up, the Street Parade association launched a fundraiser on its website. How much money has come in there?
Not much.
Celebrate late into the night. That, too, is the Street Parade. Image: KEYSTONE
Hundreds of thousands come to the party, but no one wants to spend?
So far there really are very few. Many still don’t know that we are a non-profit association and think that we drive the Lamborghini to work.
Then here is the opportunity to explain. How did you actually get through the pandemic without a Street Parade?
We have set up vaccination centers, including the pop-up center in Dietikon.
Stand behind the association Street Parade?
No, that was my company Youngcom, which also publishes the “Rckstr” magazine and works in the event sector. The Street Parade Association has no employees. So we try to keep the fixed costs low. Because the Street Parade is extremely dependent on the weather. The main source of income is the sale of drinks. In order to be able to survive a rainy year, the club recently had almost one million francs in reserves. Half of that is now gone because of the pandemic.
“90 percent of the people we have now have never done it. You have to explain every move to them.”
It was widely exploited in the media that you resisted the Parade Market in the main station to avoid competition. How do you see it?
The fact is: In the event of an evacuation, SBB doesn’t want us to send people to Stadelhofen or Enge train stations because there’s not enough space there. Our security concept of the last few years states that in the event of an evacuation, these two stations will be closed and all people will be sent to the main station. Because there is enough space. We have pointed this out to SBB, our long-standing transport partner.
As a result, the city did not issue a permit for the Parade Market, and an appeal is pending. What if the city council still allowed the event to take place in HB?
If the SBB cannot offer us another evacuation concept in the short term, I would have to think very carefully about whether I want to take on the responsibility of bringing so many people to Zurich by train – if they can’t also get home safely. I would have to sleep at least twice on that.
There used to be the Mainstation Party in the main station during the Street Parade. How was it then?
In 2009 there was a situation where a lot of people crowded into the main station because of bad weather. At that time there was a dead man. heart failure. That was the end of the Mainstation party. There were also many other injuries after the city council no longer applied for permits for outside bars in the city during the street parade and we had to set up additional medical stations and put a civil defense system into operation. The then police chief Esther Maurer warned that the number of hospital admissions had to be reduced by at least 50 percent, otherwise the street parade would no longer be permitted.
Did you reach this quota?
Yes. Since then, people have come to the Street Parade much less drunk. And there were a lot fewer shards, fewer cuts. But also no more main station party. Then came Duisburg…
A float full of colorful people: the Street Parade 2017. Image: KEYSTONE
Where 21 people died in a mass panic at a techno parade in 2010…
After that, the concept was developed to direct the visitors to the main station in the event of an evacuation, to drive in there with empty trains and thus to quickly transport a large number of visitors away from there. That was one of the lessons from Duisburg. It would be negligent to give them up again. Because a storm like Storm Bernd a year ago could also hit the Street Parade when all the shops are already closed. And then people just want to get to safety. In the current security concept, this would require the main train station. Based on meteorological forecasts, we would have an hour’s lead time to evacuate.
Going back to your time as organizer of corona vaccination centers: did that also trigger a change in perspective?
It was extremely enriching to be part of such a story that occupied the whole world. I learned a lot about politics, the rule of law and working with authorities and doctors. It was also extremely challenging because you had to constantly readjust to the changing situation.
You have been President of the Street Parade since 2008. How long do you want to keep doing this?
I’ll do it for ten years. But now two people who I thought could take over the presidency have dropped out in the Corona period. Let’s see what will come next. Luckily we were always able to renew the parade, both musically and emotionally. Even after 30 years, the Street Parade is still fresh and very contemporary. In the meantime, however, my hair is also turning grey, and I am a long way away from the TikTok generation. That’s why I’m happy to pass on my knowledge and also my office to a young fellow campaigner at my next Schnapszahl birthday.
Recruiting school begins twice a year for around 8,000 to 10,000 young men and women. The “RS” of the Swiss army is almost as old as the federal state itself: on September 4, 1849, the first of its kind took place in Winterthur.
Although there was no firmly organized federal army before 1798, the desire for a common national defense was one of the main motives for the emergence of the various alliances that led to the formation of the Swiss federal state over a period of 500 years. Up until the 17th century, there was no organized, centrally conducted education.