A free party is a party "free" from the restrictions of the legal club scene, which typically involves a sound system playing electronic dance music from late at night until the time when the organisers decide to go home. A free party can be composed of just one system or of many and when the party becomes a festival it is called a teknival. The parties can be thought of as autonomous zones where all the people present create and enforce the rules... This means that drugs are readily available and noise levels are usually illegally high. The word free is used in this context, to describe the entry fee but it's also used to describe the atmosphere, as in free from external laws and restrictions. Having said this, most parties do not ask for money since these are not commercial ventures although some (most often indoor events) do ask for a donation on the door to cover costs (e.g. fuel). Motivations for organisers range from political protest, for example free parties were a big feature of the M11 link road protest, to those that are run by people who just want to have fun. Typically organisers make little profit and sometimes even lose money putting them on. The term free party is used more widely in Europe than in US, in Canada and some parts of Europe they are referred to as Freetekno parties. For other uses, see Freedom. ... A sound system is a group of DJs and engineers contributing and working together as one, often playing and producing one particular kind of music. ... Paris Teknival, May 2005 Teknivals (the word is a portmanteau of the words tekno and festival) are free parties which take place worldwide. ... T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism is Hakim Beys most famous work. ... Recreational drug use is the use of psychoactive drugs for recreational rather than medical or spiritual purposes, although the distinction is not always clear. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A Donation is a gift given, typically to a cause or/and for charitable purposes. ... 2003 GMO USDA protest Protest expresses relatively overt reaction to events or situations: sometimes in favour, more often opposed. ... The M11 link road protest was an anti-road campaign in London, UK in the early 1990s. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ...

May 2005, UK Tek a large outdoor free party in Wales^[1]

A free party might have once been described as a rave. The origins of the two are similar but since the birth of the nightclub in town centres the use of the word rave has fallen out of fashion in Europe. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x757, 125 KB) Summary Taken on the 28/05/2005 in Wales by Rex the first Uploaded at 01:10, 17 January 2006 (UTC) Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x757, 125 KB) Summary Taken on the 28/05/2005 in Wales by Rex the first Uploaded at 01:10, 17 January 2006 (UTC) Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify... For other uses, see Rave (disambiguation). ... Laser lights illuminate the dance floor at a Gatecrasher dance music event in Sheffield, England A nightclub (or night club or club) is a drinking, dancing, and entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. ...

History

See also Rave

After the emergence of the Acid House parties in the late 1980s up to 4,000^[2] people were known to attend a rave. These events happened almost every weekend. The noise and disturbance of thousands of people appearing at parties in rural locations, such as Genesis '88, caused outrage in the national media. The government made the fine for holding an illegal party £20,000 and six months in prison.^[2] For other uses, see Rave (disambiguation). ... Book cover showing psychedelic colouring typical of the scene An acid house party was a type of illegal party typically staged in warehouses in 1987-88. ... Genesis88 was a party promotion crew who threw some of the first acid house parties also known as raves in the United Kingdom from 1988 to 1992. ... FINE was created in 1998 and is an informal association of the four main Fair Trade networks: F Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) I International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) N Network of European Worldshops (NEWS!) and E European Fair Trade Association (EFTA) // The aim of FINE is to enable these...

Police crackdowns on these often-illegal parties drove the scene into the countryside. The word "rave" somehow caught on to describe these semi-spontaneous weekend parties occurring at various locations outside the M25 Orbital motorway that now attracted up to 25 000.^[2] It was this that gave Orbital their name. The M25 motorway looking south between junctions 14 and 15, near Heathrow Airport. ... Orbital was an English techno duo from 1989 until 2004, consisting of brothers Paul and Phil Hartnoll. ...

In the 1990s raves began to expand into a global phenomenon. Around 1989-1992^[2] people who had travelled to attend the first raves began setting up promotion companies in each region to organize their own parties. This happened on a grassroots basis, often informally. By the mid-1990s, major corporations were sponsoring events and adopting the scene's music and fashion for their "edgier" advertising, making the scene become more commercialized. A grassroots movement (often referenced in the context of a political movement) is one driven by the constituents of a community. ...

After sensational coverage in the tabloids, culminating in a particularly large rave (near Castlemorton) in May 1992, the government acted on what was depicted as a growing menace. In 1994, the United Kingdom's Criminal Justice Bill passed as the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 which contained several sections designed to suppress the growing free party and anti-road protest movements (sometimes embodied by ravers and travellers). The Castlemorton Common Festival was a week-long festival held in the Bristol area, in 1992. ... The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 was an act of parliament brought into law by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Reclaim the Streets (RTS) is a collective with a shared ideal of community ownership of public spaces. ... Irish Travellers (sometimes known as Tinkers) are a nomadic or itinerant people of Irish origin living in Ireland, Great Britain and the United States. ...

By the early 2000s, the term "rave" had fallen out of favour among some people in the electronic dance music community, particularly in Europe. Many Europeans identify themselves as "clubbers" rather than ravers. The term 'free party' has been used for sometime and can be seen on the Spiral Tribe video 'Forward the Revolution' in 1992. It tried to disconnect raves from big commercial events of the early nineties to a more anarchist version of a party. Electronic dance music is a broad set of percussive music genres that largely inherit from 1970s disco music and, to some extent, the experimental pop music of Kraftwerk. ... Spiral Tribe was a [[free party] ] soundsystem which existed in the first half of the 1990s. ... Anarchist redirects here. ...

Some communities preferred the term "festival", while others simply referred to "parties". With less constrictive laws allowing raves to continue long after the United Kingdom tried to ban them. More anarchic raves continue to occur in Central Europe and France, where the law says there can be only 4 teknivals per year (2 in the south, 2 in the north). In France the larger teknivals can attract up to 30 000^[3] people in a three-day period. The terms free party and squat party have become the predominant terms used to describe an illegal party. Paris Teknival, May 2005 Teknivals (the word is a portmanteau of the words tekno and festival) are free parties which take place worldwide. ...

The term "rave" is still often used to describe an unlicensed party in some parts of the United Kingdom, particularly the South East - perhaps because larger licensed "rave" events have become less common due to anti-drugs enforcement causing venue owners to be wary of hosting them. Free parties tend to be on the boundaries of law and are strongly discouraged by government authorities, occasionally using aggressive police tactics.^[4]

Typical Party

Free parties are much like other rave parties, their main distinction being that the venue is free to use. The result is that they are often held in isolated outdoor venues or abandoned buildings, where they are also known as squat parties. If the building has a power source that is used but if not then the organisers will use generators.

Often free parties involve a lot of (mostly illegal) dance drug use. The music played at free parties is very bass heavy. It is for this reason that they are usually held in isolated venues or places where police interference is unlikely, such as protected squatting residences (particularly in the UK, where police used not to be able to enter a squat easily^[5]). An assortment of psychoactive drugs A psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a chemical substance that acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it alters brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness and behavior. ... This article is about occupying land without permission. ...

The types of music played are usually various forms of dance music with fast repetitive beats, but, due to the lack of a commercial interest, the genre chosen is often far from popular main-stream tastes and is decided purely by the tastes of the DJs who play for the sound systems putting the event on. Each sound system has its own music policy, following and entourage. The current trend is towards breakcore and gabba or, in another musical direction, psy-trance but many sound systems still play traditional techno. Some parties in England now incorporate elements of performance art ("synthetic circus") as well as electronic dance music. For other uses, see Music (disambiguation). ... DJ or dj may stand for Disc jockey, dinner jacket The DeadJournal website, or Djibouti. ... A sound system is a group of DJs and engineers contributing and working together as one, often playing and producing one particular kind of music. ... Breakcore is a genre of electronic dance music which uses rearranged, cut-up breakbeats to create extreme sounds. ... Gabber, gabba (pronounced gahba or gahbuhr in Dutch), or hardcore, is a subgenre of electronic music that is a subgenre of hardcore techno. ... Raja Ram has been experementing with psychedelic trance as early as the 1980s. ... Techno is a form of electronic dance music that became prominent in Detroit, Michigan during the mid-1980s with influences from electro, New Wave, Funk and futuristic fiction themes that were prevalent and relative to modern culture during the end of the Cold War in industrial America at that time. ...

Due to the lack of licensing restrictions, these parties often start after midnight and continue through the night until morning, often longer. Parties lasting several days are not uncommon; some large teknivals can go on for a week. Paris Teknival, May 2005 Teknivals (the word is a portmanteau of the words tekno and festival) are free parties which take place worldwide. ...

Law and Police

Missing laws regulating free parties outside the UK, see Talk:Free party

UK

Police out in force at Czechtek 2005

Under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994^[6] where the definition of music played at a rave was given as: Image File history File links Freetekno_police_czech. ... Image File history File links Freetekno_police_czech. ... © 2005, Techno. ...

Sections 63, 64 & 65 of the Act targeted electronic dance music played at raves. The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act empowered police to stop a rave in the open air when a hundred or more people are attending, or where two or more are making preparations for a rave. Section 65 allows any uniformed constable who believes a person is on their way to a rave within a five-mile radius to stop them and direct them away from the area; noncompliant citizens may be subject to a maximum fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale (£1 000). The Act was ostensibly introduced because of the noise and disruption caused by all night parties to nearby residents, and to protect the countryside. It has also been claimed that it was introduced to kill a popular youth movement that was taking many drinkers out of town centres drinking on taxable alcohol and into fields to take untaxed drugs. Electronic dance music is a broad set of percussive music genres that largely inherit from 1970s disco music and, to some extent, the experimental pop music of Kraftwerk. ... The Standard Scale is a system whereby financial criminal penalties (fines) in legislation have maximum levels set against a standard scale. ... Recreational drug use is the use of psychoactive drugs for recreational purposes rather than for work, medical or spiritual purposes, although the distinction is not always clear. ...

The number of people attending and organising such an event for it to be deemed illegal were altered in the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003^[5] section 58 to cover indoor parties and outdoor parties of more than 20 people. It is also a crime if, within 24 hours of being told by a police officer to leave a rave, a person makes preparations to attend a rave.

More recently in the United Kingdom, Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) have been used against unlicensed rave organisers if the police receive repeated complaints about noise and littering from locals. In the United Kingdom an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) is a civil order made against a person, as a result of persistent anti-social behaviour. ...

Despite these laws, free parties continue to exist. They do so in a number of ways. They can be small (with fewer than 100 people) and remote so that they are unlikely to cause distress to the local residents. If the police find out about the party and turn up, it is rarely worth the use of resources to attempt to arrest people and seize equipment. The people at the rave would then have to leave without having time to tidy up and potentially still incapable of driving safely. The other way free parties continue is to be large enough to make breaking them up difficult. When there are more than 500 or so people then there is a potential for a riot.^[7] A typical police response to why a rave was not stopped is: "officers had decided not to stop the rave because they had only received one complaint about noise and the amount of resources needed to stop it would not be justified."^[8]

In August 2006, an unlicensed party in Essex, England was broken up by riot police, resulting in injuries on both sides. This was one of the largest confrontations between police and ravers that had occurred at an unlicensed event for some years. The Chief Superintendent in charge of the police operation said "These sorts of raves are quite unheard of in this county - I have not seen this sort of violence since the old days of acid house."^[9] For other meanings of Essex, see Essex (disambiguation). ...

Squat Party

A squat party is a party that takes place either in a disused building (broken into and secured for the party) or in an already existing squat. For other uses, see Party (disambiguation). ... Look up squat, squatter, squatting in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Squat parties are usually advertised either by word of mouth, postings on internet bulletin boards, flyers handed out at other similar events and through phone lines set up by the sound system(s) organising the event. This is for security reasons, since the organisers do not want the authorities finding out about them and trying to stop them. Other events might be much smaller acoustic nights run more like a cafe. Squatted buildings are often used as social centres and creative spaces for people to use. For other uses, see Word of mouth (disambiguation). ... A bulletin board system or BBS is a computer system running software that allows users to dial into the system over a phone line and, using a terminal program, perform functions such as downloading software and data, uploading data, reading news, and exchanging messages with other users. ... Flyer may refer to: Flyer (pamphlet), single page leaflet Aviator, someone who flies an aircraft, a pilot Wright Flyer, the first powered aircraft designed and built by the Wright Brothers Philadelphia Flyers, a National Hockey League team Kangaroo, a female kangaroo is sometimes called a flyer Dayton Flyers, University of... For other uses, see Telephone (disambiguation). ... A sound system is a group of DJs and engineers contributing and working together as one, often playing and producing one particular kind of music. ... For other uses, see Security (disambiguation). ... Social Centres are community spaces. ...

Most squat parties usually run for 12 to 24 hours, finishing when the organisers have had enough or if they are shut down by police. Most large cities in the UK have a squat party scene but London and Bristol are the most active cities by some extent.^{[citation needed]} The majority of London squat parties occur in mainly industrial sectors e.g. East London, as abandoned warehouses make ideal venues and a smaller chance of residential noise complaints. The London squat party scene of recent years has seen an influx of European travellers, largely from the East, where there is also a large rave culture, for example events such as Czechtek. © 2005, Techno. ...

Squat parties are typically either free or charge a small donation on the door. Typically the organisers also try to make additional money through selling alcohol inside. A Donation is a gift given, typically to a cause or/and for charitable purposes. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Squat 'eviction' parties occur when the squatters residing in a building have been given a final date for their eviction, and as a final act of resistance organise a large scale party and protest in order to try and withstand the police or bailiffs. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A Bailiff in a United States courtroom Bailiff (from Late Latin bajulivus, adjectival form of bajulus) is a governor or custodian; cf. ...

Drugs

Drugs sale and use is long standing and accepted, especially ecstasy, cannabis, LSD and ketamine. Drugs are available at almost all free parties and people use them whilst dancing to bass heavy music all night long. Most of the party goers take the drugs to be free from their day to day grind and to have a good time. This leads to parties being filled with people all looking to have fun so serious problems are rare compared to alcohol fuelled town centres. Recreational drug use is the use of psychoactive drugs for recreational purposes rather than for work, medical or spiritual purposes, although the distinction is not always clear. ... MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), most commonly known by the street names ecstasy or XTC (for more names see the full list), is a synthetic entactogen of the phenethylamine family, whose primary effect is believed to be the stimulation of secretion as well as inhibition of re-uptake of large amounts... This article is about the plant genus Cannabis. ... Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly called LSD, LSD-25, or acid. ... Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic for use in human and veterinary medicine developed by Parke-Davis (1962). ...

In early years 'uppers' such as MDMA were the most common drugs taken at parties, however over the last fifteen years there has been a steady increase in the popularity of ketamine as the drug of choice for party-goers, most noticeably in the London acid techno scene, where ketamine has a massive presence and has been said by some^[10] to have spoiled the atmosphere found at earlier parties. Since 2000 ketamine has crossed over from being almost entirely a drug found in the free party scene to one commonly found in mainstream clubs as well.^[11] ecstasy and religious ecstasy MDMA, most commonly known today by the street name ecstasy, is a synthetic entactogen of the phenethylamine family whose primary effect is to stimulate the brain to rapidly secrete large amounts of serotonin, causing a general sense of openness, empathy, energy, euphoria, and well-being. ... Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic for use in human and veterinary medicine developed by Parke-Davis (1962). ... ACID TECHNO RULES Acid techno is the term used to describe a style of techno that originated in the London squat party scene in the mid 1990s. ...

There are people involved in the rave scene who are straight edge, though they're rare.^[12] For the drawing or cutting tool, see Straightedge. ...

Security

Due to the drug culture and unregulated environment, security has become a problem for many party organisers. Some free party sound systems hire private security at events but security is only an issue in squat parties or very urban outdoor events. Outdoor parties have very little trouble.^[2]

Parties become autonomous zones, with self policing and control being established by all attendance. If people make trouble calling the police is not an option so sometimes the music is stopped and the trouble makers are simply told by all the party goers to leave.^[13]

Locations

Typical parties in the London scene range from small parties with a couple of hundred people up to huge multi-riggers involving a thousand or more people. The number of sound systems involved also varies - small parties may have just one or two sound systems, larger parties may have anything up to 20 or more, including several "link-ups" where two or more sound systems will combine their rigs into a single large system.

Although London is the central location for squat parties they exist outside the capital. Outdoor parties are popular all over Wales and the South West and can attract up to a thousand people. Outdoor parties are organised so that noise pollution is not a factor. If the local residents complain then the party is much more at risk of being stopped. In most big cities there is a underground counterculture centred around free parties which are predominantly outdoor parties in the summer and squat parties when it is too cold. Noise pollution (or environmental noise in technical venues) is displeasing human or machine created sound that disrupts the environment. ... For the Roy Harper album Counter Culture, see Counter Culture. ...

See also

• Freetekno
• Czechtek
• Rave party
• Teknival

This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... © 2005, Techno. ... A rave party, more often called a rave, is an all-night dance event where DJs and other performers play electronic dance music and rave music. ... Paris Teknival, May 2005 Teknivals (the word is a portmanteau of the words tekno and festival) are free parties which take place worldwide. ...

References

1. ^ BBC Illegal weekend rave breaks up. BBC (2005-05-31). Retrieved on 2006-01-17.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Timeline and numbers Reynolds, Simon (1998). Energy Flash. Picador. ISBN 0-330-35056-0. 
3. ^ "French ravers force police to retreat", BBC, 2002-08-16. Retrieved on 2006-06-24. 
4. ^ "Czech PM defends rave crackdown", BBC, 2005-08-02. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Public Order and Trespass section 58 Raves. Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Retrieved on 2006-01-17.
6. ^ Public Order: Collective Trespass or Nuisance on Land - Powers in relation to raves. Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Her Majesty's Stationery Office (1994). Retrieved on 2006-01-17.
7. ^ Police back off after rave threat. BBC (2005-08-05).
8. ^ Hundreds attend illegal city rave. BBC (2006-01-01).
9. ^ 200 riot police break up illegal rave. The Guardian (2006-08-28). Retrieved on November 3, 2006.
10. ^ ketamine killing the rave scene and don't you know it. Taken from Party Vibe internet forum (2002-07-18). Retrieved on 2006-04-23.
11. ^ New drugs survey reveals emerging ketamine market. DrugScope (2005-10-06). Retrieved on 2006-04-23.
12. ^ Critical mess. www.urban75.com (2001-01-17). Retrieved on 2006-04-25.
13. ^ The Free Party How To Guide. Partyvibe (2001-01-01). Retrieved on 2007-05-21.

For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 151st day of the year (152nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 214th day of the year (215th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Her Majestys Stationery Office (usually abbreviated as HMSO) is part of the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 217th day of the year (218th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 1st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Guardian. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 240th day of the year (241st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... A typical Internet forum discussion, with common elements such as quotes and spoiler brackets A page from a forum showcasing emoticons and Internet slang An Internet forum is a web application for holding discussions and posting user generated content. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... is the 199th day of the year (200th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 113th day of the year (114th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 113th day of the year (114th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 1st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Partyvibe Free party resource.
• How to Have a Free Party - SchNEWS DIY Guide
• Fantazia Free Party information - Reviews of Castlemorton etc.
• Squatjuice online bulletin board about the free party/ squatting culture.
• Survivors of Hardcore Belgium and Toronto hardcore & speedcore party organizers
• Dungeons Flyer Gallery Oldskool flyers

Add more links if you wish.