Switzerland: Zurich's Street Parade

[tic-toc]

For those who are interested, this year's Zurich's Street Parade falls on the 11/8/2007.

http://www.streetparade.ch/

It is a one day parade with music everywhere. Basically the whole city is filled with music. Last year there were about 40 floats with dancers. Each float plays a different kind of music. Every corners of the street, there are dj and their console. It is a showcase for DJ of all over the world. Some of Zouk's DJ has played in the Street Parade before.

It was first started by a student in Zurich, inspired by the street party in Berlin, proposed to the mayor to close one street for dance party. That turned out to be a success and the year later, famous DJ were added. This event turned out to be more and more successful as the years go by. Now it is a national event in Switzerland.

It is not a gay event like the mardi gras in Sydney but nobody really cares about one's sexual orientation. I was there last year. Although I am not attractive, I was confident to be able to bed with at least 10 hetersexual men if I wanted to !! They were tipsy, friend and fun loving. The crowd are mostly from Germany, Switzerland, Italian, French, Spain. Too bad it was only a one day event. So it is convenient only for those who will be in Europe at that time. Not really worth making a special trip all the way to Switzerland just for that one particular day.

[Andy@Tokyo]

Hi Tic-toc,

are u going to event this year as well? Remember to show us some pics and bed 20 this time hehe.

[tic-toc]

yes I am arriving on the 10th and depart on the 12th/aug

One positive thing about the hotel is they never raise their price during this period.

This year I still do not know what crazy thing to put on yet. Well, I'll come up with something.

This parade does not need people to dress up or masquarade (Unlike Venice's carnival festival). Here people can dress up like tarzan, eqyptian slaves etc.

go to the website and click onto the "photo archives". Probably u can see my photo too

[tic-toc]

Here my brief report of StreetParade in Zurich.

10/8/07

In the past few days, the weather forecast for Zurich’s weekend was bad, real bad. Maximum temperature was 18 degrees with heavy rain. What kind of summer is that? Will Zurich’s biggest annual event be cancelled? And my biggest concern was: Will there be people? (I can do without the females actually) Will the men still expose their bodies under that temperature? Motivated by only 3 letters M E N, my friends and I boarded the train from Milan to Zurich on Friday 10 Aug.

Over mountain over seas, hunky fine men all for me.

At 17.30, Zurich’s central train station is crowded with people. It is not clear whether they are arriving or leaving. Some topless muscled workers are mounting a 10 metres high stage. Another group of staffs, wearing black t-shirt and helmet on their head, are hanging the disco lights over us. Tomorrow, this train station will be transformed into a mega discothèque. As we walk towards our hotel situated 200 mt away, the dark clouds hovered coldly above us. Last year, at this time, there were already several DJ testing their sound system in the streets. Today, there was none. Hmmm, not a good sign.

Our little simple hotel is located right in the central historical zone. Our room is on the 3rd storey without lift. It should do some good to my gluteus. Common shared toilets and bathrooms are at the corridor. Not to worry, being in Switzerland, its cleanliness is impeccable. Perhaps there are even chances to share the showers with someone. Delicious! I sure know how to drop the soap gracefully.

Shops (except the sexy shops) are offering summer discounts 30% - 70%. Clothes and shoes are really a good buy.

It is 18.30pm. Time for a quick check at the nearby sauna Paragonya. Entrance CHF35.00 (SGD44.00). The sauna is clean with Jacuzzi pool. There are many Asians (Thais and Indonesia) They stared at me thinking “who is this new chap? Never seen before” Actually many of them are there working as escorts. The balance of the customers is above 60 of age. Not really my cup of tea. For the high entrance fee that I have paid, I should remain there till next week. But really, there is NO light beyond that rainbow. So I left after an hour.

We had a quick dinner at Lee’s corner, a Chinese food take away stall. A plate of sambal chicken rice and a coke cost CHF20.50 (SGD26.00) No kidding. I had a bit of regret eating it. Partly for the high price, partly for the smell of garlic in my mouth throughout the whole night.

Hardbrucke is an Industrial zone recently becoming a youngsters’ hang out place. Bars, discos, shops etc. It is less than a one minute train journey, just one stop from the Central train station. Train departs in every 5-7 minutes. First we went to AKT bar (mainly straights) for a drink. The crowd is friendly and dancing to the techno music. I asked for a whisky cola. They gave me a 0.33L glass with whisky filled up till 90% and a small bottle of coca cola.

At 11.30 pm, we moved towards the 2 hottest clubs in the area: “Supermarket” is mainly catered for gays. The crowd in “Hive” is mixed. They are located side by side. We picked Hive.

Entrance CHF25.00. Drinks are paid separately. It is an old industrial building transformed into a club. The basement level has a long dance hall with ample sitting space by the sides. The trance music gets hotter as the crowd thickens. The 2nd level is an open space with big windows. The atmosphere is much relaxed, the music is more towards electro.

By then I realised that this is not the place where I can do my “One Night Only” moves. 2 of our friends are more into pumping underground music whereas the other 2 were into pop music. So after 2 hours, we decided to return back to our hotel. Once outside, it started drizzling.

The night train brought us back to the central train station. The construction of stage has already completed. A drummer is testing his strokes and the sound for tomorrow’s gig. We’ll see, if there will be a parade tomorrow.

... con't

Edited March 23, 2008 by tic-toc

[Guest Guest]

Great report. Please keep posting more.

[tic-toc]

..continue from above

11/8/07 morning

The sky is so grey that it is difficult to tell the time of the day. I put on my padded vest, and go out to have breakfast at Migros café. It is actually a section of the supermarket Migros, which offers coffee and pastries. It was our main breakfast joint last year: Inexpensive and lots of men to feast eyes on. The sauna that I visited yesterday is located on top of this café. Everyone of their client has to pass though the glass corridor to take the lift up. I should have done my survey here before visiting the sauna yesterday.

We cross the bridge where white goose and grey ducks are swimming in the lake underneath. At 10.30 am, the music is already blasting inside the central station, sending sizzling sounds through the glass panels. It is a good idea that the organiser place one of the dance venues here. If it rains, at least there is one place to dance under the shelter. One by one, trains continue to bring more people to Zurich. NS boys in uniforms, fresh out of camps for their weekend, remained in the station to participate. About 1000 guys and gals move their body to the pumping tunes. Most of them are also showing off their fruits of their creation. Girls with vibrant colour tinted hair, faces sprayed with funky colours. Boys with spiky coloured hair and strange looking pants. The kiosks are busy selling cans of beers. The air is filled with enthusiasm and energy.

As attractive as it may be, this party is too early for us especially right after breakfast. A few snaps of photos later, we head back to Hardbrucke station again. The MAAG event hall is one of the official party venues of Street Parade. Many worlds famous DJ like Sander van Doorn will be showing off their skills here tonight. It is unlikely that we will be coming here tonight so we come to explore the place now.

The opposite side of the road is where the famous Zurich made recycled bags brand “Freitag”’s signature store is located. The 7 storey store is made up of used shipping containers. http://www.freitag.ch/ It is a unique building to marvel at.

We had lunch in a charming Spanish/Mexican restaurant “Turm”. It is in the central yet away from the usual tourist path. The waitress, who speaks Spanish, English, German, French, welcomed us courteously. The menu has a wide selection, even a separate one for the “healthy conscious”. This place is more than a restaurant. It is a magical refuge to escape from the chaos of the city, especially for today. Visible grey rocks on the wall contrasts with the saffron coloured curtains. The interior furnishing oozes warmth. I choose a Ostrich steak in figs sauce. (CHF34.50/ SGD44.00) which combined well with the Spanish red wine “Crianya” 2004 by S. Arroyo.

It seems like the world has double its spin during our lunch because the streets suddenly become more vibrant. Food vendors are starting to mount stands and light their grills. Shops are closed and bars are opened. Technicians lay their cables setting up more dj stations. Yes, even the wind is warmer now. THE STREET PARADE IS ON!

Edited March 23, 2008 by tic-toc

[Andy@Tokyo]

Wow, tic-toc, seems like u are having much more fun than us.

[tic-toc]

party goers at 10.30 am in central train station

free make up and hair do for all

Lake in Zurich

Nice buttock... and face too!

marching towards the parade's starting point

*tks Andy, for advising me how to load these photos.

[Andy@Tokyo]

No prob, TT.

AND WOW wheee!! Tic-toc nice pics! way to go!

[tic-toc]

continue....

11/8/07 afternoon

Like in the movie "close encounters of the 3rd kind", everyone is moving towards the direction of Opernhaus, one of the gathering points of the parade. Oh my god, how can we lose out? In a second, we are back in our hotel rooms busy drawing out all the barang barang from our bags. It is show time baby!

At about 3.00pm, having joined by 4 more friends, our company of 10 stepped into the street dressed up in our special attire. To be honest, I felt a little embarrassed, silly and ridiculous. People laugh at our dressing and we laugh at ourselves. On the other hand, looking beautiful is not the spirit here. At least for today, conformation is ignored. Being unique and different is celebrated.

Once on the road, people ask to take photos with us and we do the same with others (especially with nice handsome guys). It feels just like the red carpet of the Academy awards. Everyone here is a star. This may be the only occasion when you can stop any men in the street to take a photo together with him. He would happily hug you and you could boldly touch his chest. Delicious :whistle:

The day after, it was reported to have 800,000 visitors to this event.

Different styles of music from stalls and bars are dispersed into the air. They are mixed together to form an anthem building up the spirits. This is not an exclusively gay event, it is for EVERYBODY. One can be gay, straight, young, old, fat or thin. As long as you like music and you like to have fun, you are most welcome to participate. And this parade is free. Probably one of the reasons why this parade is so successful and famous is because there is no discrimation, no prejudices.

I thought to myself: are gay pride/ marches really necessary? If there are parties like these that welcome everyone, why must we hold gay pride marches to exclude the heterosexuals? Isn’t the world a better place without labelling?

Edited March 23, 2008 by tic-toc

[crazygolfer]

Nice pictures and write-up. The Lake in Zurich and the surrounding buildings along the the lake looks unchanged after so many years Thanks for sharing.

[tic-toc]

Even chaos has its logic. At a certain point of time, the first float arrived, carrying about 50 dancers all dressed in white on board. Their DJ plays his selection through their roaring stereo. It stops in front of us to encourage our support. The crowd yell, clapping to the beat. After a few minutes, the float moved further down the route to meet more cheering spectators.

Not long afterwards, the second float arrives, mixing a different sound and bringing with them a different group of supporters. Then the third float, the fourth, the fifth……. A group of guys wanders over to say hello.

One of them asks “Are you gay?”

I hold his hand and reply “I don’t knowwww. Can you help me find out?”

We decided not to stay on to witness all the 24 floats. Doing that would miss all the fun in other corners. Already several men are tossing out their manhood to pee. Beer is so wonderfully diuretic. On the main stage at 100 mt away, dancers are grooving erotically to the music in funky costumes. With drinks in our hand, we nose around the smaller streets which are less intense but just as exciting. Music continues to discharge into the air. Many people already sitting down to rest. We halt at Cranberry bar (gay) which is just by the main road. They play good tecno music. It is crowded with many young PLU smiling and dancing outside.

Gradually the day light left us. I bought a grilled sausage from the road side vendor (CHF5.00/SGD 6.30) as we stroll to another gay bar Predigerhof. (www.predigerhof.ch) Its owner is a mother and son team. Their Thai interior deco + Thai waiter Odi, attracts mainly Asian customers and Asian-loving customers. Some of our friends are Missing In Action but never mind, we’ll sure to meet up later. Finally I managed to rest my legs and have a drink. Soon the entrance becomes a big showcase of free drag show and dancing queens in front of a huge audience.

10.30 pm = It is time to investigate the main train station. It is so congested with people that it is impossible to go near to the stage. A brasserie and a bar by the sides had cleared their tables to transform into a dance hall. I was obligated by the exceptional progressive music beat to move my lazy bum. The party here in the train station will go on till 6.00 am the next morning.

While heading towards the central again, I recovered some human senses realising that I was actually hungry. (free ear plugs are available) As I attack my Chinese fried noodle, I realise silence gradually creeps in. The music, the base and the noise which became part of the atmosphere are vanished. The local law stipulates that all open-air gigs have to be terminated at midnight. Private clubs however, are permitted to continue their ball. Notwithstanding the music curfew, countless people remain in the street.

No music? No problem. We happen to know just the perfect place to go. “T&M” is a hot gay club just across the street from where we are. It occupies the 2nd and 3rd level of a building. I managed to sneak in without notice and paid nothing!!! But my friends are not as lucky. Each of them pays CHF25.00/ SGD 31.45. There are 2 beautiful dance floors playing commercial dance tunes. The 2 dark rooms are on the upper level. About 10 lockable cabin rooms with toilet papers. It is so nice to be surrounded by a young and handsome crowd. The action in the dark room is aplenty and easy to get. After a long day, it is time for my reward. I am busy so do not disturb me until 6.00am ok?!! Here is tic-toc signing off.

Ps : if u wish to view the live telecast of the event, click on to www.streetparade.ch

Edited March 23, 2008 by tic-toc

[erection day]

What a great write-up! :thumb: With nice pix too. A pleasure to read indeed. How come no pix of you and friends in costumes ah?

[tic-toc]

thank you ED, crazygolfer,Andy for the positive feed back. I am really glad that you like it.

I almost wanted to post our pix but on second thought, maybe many readers will vomit so better not la. :oops:

[erection day]

It must taken you a fair bit of time to pen your thoughts and upload those lovely pixs. Thank you for the effort. But we still want to see your pix. Rest assure if we do vomit after seeing your pix, you wont know about it. Never. Just joking lah.

Btw, are the Swiss men well-hung?

[tic-toc]

In order to avoid lauding or belittling the Swiss, hmmmm, I shall answer you in another manner.

I would say I am satisfy with what I encountered.