The City as a Venue
Zürich itself: the lake basin, the Quaibrücke, Bellevue and Bürkliplatz, the balconies and rooftops that fill with people, the boats on the Zürichsee, and the streets at dawn afterwards. The route direction was reversed in 2003 to manage noise.
Part of Street Parade
16 moments in this segment.
- — Boats packed onto Lake Zurich during the 2003 heatwave parade. Hundreds of pleasure boats raft together on the Zurichsee off the parade quay, with the crowded lakeside promenade behind them. The 2003 edition fell during the European heatwave, with temperatures above 35 C, and again drew about 900,000 people. Watching the parade from the water has been part of the event since the route moved to the lake basin in 1994.
- — Costumed participants on the lakeside route, 2005. Ravers in elaborate hand-made costumes push through the crowd on the quay. From the mid-1990s the parade grew from a few thousand marchers into a city-wide street festival drawing hundreds of thousands. The costume culture is one of the few threads that survived the shift from underground rave to mass public event.
- — Ravers in the lake beside the parade route, 2007. Participants wade and leap into the Zurichsee alongside the cordoned quay, with excursion boats on the water behind. The route runs the whole length of the lake basin, so the water is never more than a few metres from the crowd. Swimming off the quay is one of the informal traditions of a hot parade day.
- — The crowd on Limmatquai in Zurich's old town, 2007. A dense column of people moves through the old town between historic facades, a reminder that the parade takes over the core of the city and not just the lakefront. The city and organisers have argued for years over who pays for the closures, cleaning and policing this requires. Zurich's police chief tried to ban the event outright in 1994 on exactly these grounds.
- — Zurich rooftops above the parade, 2008. Looking down over the city's roofs to the packed parade route and its stands below. The route runs the lake basin from Wollishofen round to Seefeld, reversed in 2003 for noise reasons and to give the trucks better exits. The picture shows how completely the event occupies the historic centre.
- — Spectators packed onto a building's balconies, 2008. Every level of an office building's balconies is lined with spectators watching the parade below. The Commons description calls it a loaded balcony. Buildings along the quay effectively become grandstands, and residents' complaints about noise and access are a fixed part of the annual permit negotiation.
- — The crowd on Limmatquai, 2008. Ravers stream along Limmatquai in the old town, past the arcades and shopfronts. Although the parade circuit itself is the lake basin, the crowd spreads through the whole inner city for the rest of the day and night. The Commons description names the location.
- — Boats and swimmers off the quay at Street Parade 2008. Small boats and inflatables crowd the water off the lakeside promenade with the parade buildings behind. The file's EXIF timestamp is 14 August 2008, five days after the 2008 parade on 9 August, so the camera clock or the processing date may be off. The scene itself matches an August parade day on the Zurichsee.
- — The 2011 parade crowd on the lakeside road. Participants fill the closed lakeside carriageway on the 20th anniversary edition. The Swiss DJ Energy played the 2011 parade and died of a drug overdose the following night. Around 88 tonnes of rubbish were cleared from the route afterwards.
- — Boats moored off the quay, Street Parade 2012. Motorboats lie against the lakeside jetties while the crowd lines the promenade behind. The 2012 route ran the lake basin as usual, with the Centre Stage and the Future Sound Stage at Burkliplatz. The lake itself functions as a second viewing area.
- — The route at night, Street Parade 2012. The closed avenue at night, lit by streetlights, with the crowd still filling it and litter across the road. The parade proper ends in the evening but the crowd and the stages carry on into the night. Clearing the route usually runs into the following day.
- — The route at night after the parade, 2014. The closed avenue at night, lit orange by streetlights, with the crowd still on it and the road covered in litter. Clearing the route begins before the party ends and usually runs into the next day. A scented disinfectant is used on the tarmac to deal with the smell of urine.
- — Aerial view over the parade crowd, 2014. A high view over an unbroken crowd stretching along the lakeside route towards the hills. The 2014 edition drew about 950,000 people. The file has no EXIF timestamp; the uploader dates it to the parade day of 2 August 2014.
- — Crowd along the lake, Street Parade 2015. The crowd stretches away along the lakeside route with the Zurichsee and the hills behind. Because of construction work on the Quaibrucke and at Bellevue the 2015 parade was pushed back to the last August weekend, 29 August. In hot weather it drew around one million people, the highest figure of the decade.
- — The route at night, Street Parade 2016. The crowd still fills the street after dark, lit by streetlights and stage lighting. The 2016 parade was held on 13 August and drew about 900,000 visitors. The file has no EXIF; the filename and uploader date both encode 13 August 2016.
- — Lake Zurich at night during the 2022 Street Parade. The Zurichsee photographed from the Quaibrucke at night during the 2022 parade, with the lit city along the shore. The Quaibrucke is the hinge of the parade circuit, carrying the route across the outflow of the lake. 2022 was the first edition after the 2020 and 2021 cancellations.
