CzechTek

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CzechTek 2004

The CzechTek was a free, non-commercial, multi-day Teknival that from 1994 to 2006 on the last weekend in July at respectively different locations in the Czech Republic took place. Every year hundreds of sound systems from Europe presented themselves to several thousand visitors with free entry . Many musicians and artists were invited to present their work or to provide sound to the audience.

The organizer, the Association of Czech Sound Systems Aliance 23 , financed itself through the on-site sale of drinks, snacks and records, which is why visitors were asked to only satisfy their needs at stalls with music.

In spring 2007, the organizer announced that, due to the “unsustainable situation around CzechTek”, in 2007 and most likely never again an event of this size and under this name would be held.

history

The first CzechTek took place in 1994 as a legal event. However, a few times the festival was not registered with the responsible authorities. In 2003 and 2004 over 30,000 people each visited the CzechTek.

In 2004, the impostor Lukáš Kohout presented himself to the media as the spokesman for CzechTek.

The police dissolution of the event in 2005 caused a political sensation. In 2006, the record number of 40,000 participants was set, of whom an estimated several thousand came from abroad. The Czech Interior Minister František Bublan also visited the venue. The Czech police reported no special incidents from CzechTek in 2006.

Police operation in 2005

Police operation at CzechTek 2005

In 2005, at the festival in Mlýnec pod Přimdou , the Dálnice 5 motorway near Prague – Pilsen was blocked and special police forces attacked with water cannons , sticks and tear gas . Around 150 people were injured during the several days of deployment by the 1200 police officers. The mission was to protect the adjacent fields around the area rented for the festival.

The Czech Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek and his Interior Minister František Bublan defended the crackdown on the young people. Paroubek claimed that the operation was necessary as a measure "against a wave of violence provoked by drugs and alcohol" and "against the spread of AIDS and hepatitis". He also stated that the visitors to the festival were "not dancing children, but dangerously obsessed people with anarchist tendencies". In the days and weeks that followed, there were demonstrations against the police operation in Prague , Brno , Ostrava , Paris and Berlin . The protests were also supported by the former President Václav Havel , who also offered to mediate between the Prime Minister and the Interior Minister on the one hand and the representatives of the festival participants on the other. The incumbent President Václav Klaus also criticized the deployment. The Berlin Fuckparade changed their demonstration route to demonstrate against the police violence in front of the Czech embassy and mobilized for demonstrations regarding the incidents.

As a result of the eviction of the event, the demonstrations and the domestic political tensions, the organizers and the government agreed to hold CzechTek 2006 within the legal framework. To this end, the proposal of the outgoing Defense Minister Karel Kühnl (US-DEU) was accepted and the CzechTek was relocated to the Hradiště military training area near Karlovy Vary in 2006 .

The previous CzechTeks

CzechTek 2006
date place Number of visitors
July 28th–? 1994 Hostomice pod Brdy legal 300
July 26th–? 1995 Hostomice pod Brdy legal 300
26.-28. July 1996 Hostomice pod Brdy legal 1,500
25-27 July 1997 Stará Huť near Dobríš legal 5,000
July 30th – 4th August 1998 Stará Huť near Dobríš legal 5,000
July 30th – 4th August 1999 Airfield Hradčany illegal 5,000
July 28–2. August 2000 Lipnice near Třeboň illegal 10,000
27.-30. July 2001 Doksy illegal 10,000
26.-31. July 2002 Andělka near Višňová legal 20,000
July 25th – 3rd August 2003 Ledkov near Kopidlno legal 40,000
July 30–3. August 2004 Boněnov near Chodová Planá illegal 20,000
29.-31. July 2005 Mlýnec pod Přimdou illegal 5,000
27.-30. July 2006 Hradiště military training area legal 40,000

Individual evidence

  1. "Manifesto" on czechtek.freetekno.org
  2. a b The Czech government in need of an explanation The daily newspaper of August 3, 2005
  3. Demos in Berlin, Paris and Prague - Press release of the Fuckparade from September 20, 2005
  4. Ex-President Havel brokered at CzechTek radio.cz on August 3, 2005
  5. CzechTek 2005: Demos against violence  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. fm4.orf.at@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / fm4.orf.at  
  6. Fuckparade demo in front of the US embassy - music against rifles, Fuckparade press release from September 8, 2005
  7. Fuckparade mobilizes to Strasburg, press release of the Fuckparade of October 11, 2005
  8. YouTube: Freetek demonstration in Strasbourg

Web links

Commons : CzechTek  - collection of images, videos and audio files