Love and peace over dance weekend

An unofficial Love Parade...of one bus

Hundreds of dance music fans have been holding their own Love Parade in Newcastle, after the official techno party was cancelled at a week's notice.

A sole Love Bus turned up to take dance fans on a tour around the city on Saturday afternoon, arriving for an unofficial party in Exhibition Park.

All a bit different from Leeds last year...

Organisers risked having their equipment seized as they took sound systems into the park despite a healthy police presence.

Some had warned of public disorder problems in the city, but the weekend passed off peacefully.

The low-key scenes were in complete contrast to the scrum of almost one million partygoers in Berlin, where the original Love Parade was getting into its 13th year.

And they were very different from last year's first UK Love Parade in Leeds, which was attended by an estimated 400,000 ravers.

More than 250,000 clubbers had been expected at the Newcastle event.

They were meant to dance with up to 20 floats through the city centre before a huge open-air party on Saturday, followed by numerous "after party" nights at city clubs.

But on Saturday the Town Moor which would have played host to the massive free party remained silent.

...or Berlin this year

Although the club nights have been going ahead, the parade was cancelled last week over safety fears and unresolved transport issues.

Many revellers had booked travel and accommodation, and many were furious at the cancellation.

This had led to fears that thousands of clubbers would gather during the day, leading to crowd trouble and "public order situations".

But on Saturday afternoon and early evening the atmosphere in the city centre was described as good humoured and friendly.

All-night parties

Organisers on Saturday were still claiming a Love Weekend, if not a Parade, with the club events being considered a success.

Clubber at Sea on Friday night: There's still a Love Weekend

On Friday night DJs Pete Tong and Danny Rampling kicked off events at the new Sea club on the city's Quayside.

"They can take away the parade, but they can't take away the love!" proclaimed Mr Tong.

On Saturday night several all-night parties were being held, including one at the 11,000-capacity Newcastle Arena starring DJs Sasha, John Digweed and Pete Tong.

Radio 1, the original organiser of the Parade, was broadcasting the events from across Newcastle throughout the weekend.

Many were also being webcast on its dedicated Love Parade internet site.

Extra trains were running throughout the night on Saturday to cope with the extra demand from clubbers heading home.

And about 1,000 extra police were patrolling the city in case of any trouble.