Demo Diary: No Future No Dancefloor on 20.09.2019

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Another day, and another several thousand party nutters are dancing to techno in the streets and fighting the system in Berlin, Germany. Except today, they are joined by over 270,000 people taking part in various actions and demos organised by Fridays For Future, Extinction Rebellion and Reclaim Culture - amongst countless other organisations - as a part of the Global Climate Strike.  

Waving up-cycled signs and throbbing with techno and other sounds of the underground, five trucks (one decked out with reused plastic), blew through the Mitte in a kilometre long procession, passing straight through Potsdamer Platz, Checkpoint Charlie and finally, Alexanderplatz. The music pulled everything together, weaving a coherent entity out of all the frustrated, angry, yet hopeful and ecstatic strands of emotion.

Check out the two-minute video below to get a sense of what it was like...


The anarchic dancing mass parked up, chattering and laughing to a boom-tss-boom-tss-boom-tss soundtrack, amid dumbfounded shoppers who were trying to get their fast, disposable fashion fixes at outlets like Primark and H&M.

Gleeful ravers contrasted harshly with wan, joyless consumers, a stark reminder that here in Berlin, no one REALLY needs to spend that much to feel satisfied, much less trash the planet in the process. They can just allow themselves to be unified by music and channel their hopes and fears into action rather than numbing them with acts of mindless consumption. 

Hope you enjoy the clip! And please leave a comment if you were there, to let everyone know your thoughts about the event. 

The Week of Action on Climate Change continues until September 27, 2019. More info on the lineup of events can be found at Extinction Rebellion's events page.

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