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Teknivals (the word is a portmanteau of the words tekno and festival) are illegal free parties which take place in locations across Europe every summer. They vary in size depending on factors such as accessibility and reputation, with most increasing in fame (and therefore size) every year. The parties normally take place in venues far away from residential areas such as squatted warehouses, empty military bases, forests or fields. The teknival phenomenon is a grassroots movement which has grown out of the rave scene and spawned an entire subculture.

History

Teknivals are a larger scale version of free parties and emerged in the early 1990s, when acid house parties and travellers in Great Britain became the target of political repression, culminating in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 ^[1]. Section 63 of the Act gave the police new powers to close down illegal parties.

Sound systems then started travelling to countries in Europe where laws were less restrictive and the authorities were uncertain how to stop the festivals. One of the most famous of these sound systems was Spiral Tribe, which was at the forefront of the free party movement in Europe. Desert Storm was another famous sound system which organised teknivals in Spain and France and brought raves to the war-torn Sarajevo, Bosnia, in 1996. At one party the front-line was 10 kilometres away and they were asked to turn off their lights in case they attracted enemy fire ^[2].

While some teknivals are one-off events, most take place every year on or around the same date; the biggest, such as the ones in France or Czechtek in the Czech Republic (which blossomed from a small festival in 1994), can attract up to 80,000 visitors. In France teknivals have often taken place in car parks beside legal festivals such as Printemps de Bourges or Transmusicales in Rennes.

Just as the word 'teknival' was formed by merging together the words 'tekno' and 'festival', teknivals in different countries are referred to by abbreviated names, such as the aforementioned Czechtek, and also Poltek (Poland), Slovtek (Slovakia), Southtek (South Germany), Dutchtek (Netherlands), Easttek (East Germany) and Northtek (Canada). NorthTek was held on Crown Land in Ontario.

Recently in the United Kingdom teknivals have occurred again, despite huge police attention. In 2002 the tenth anniversary of the legendary Castlemorton rave was celebrated at Steart Beach ^[3] ^[4] in Somerset (there had also been a smaller teknival at the same location one year previously). In 2005 there was a UKtek in Wales ^[5] ^[6] and also a teknival known as Scumtek that happened twice in London. Only the first Scumtek was stopped by the police.

Organization

Sound systems gather on the site and play varied types of electronic music. Along with each sound system come friends and travellers so most teknivals have a multicultural atmosphere. The parties can last for several days or even weeks. Teknivals are organised by the sound system community using underground methods such as word of mouth, answerphone messages, flyer (pamphlet) and internet discussion boards. Normally the flyer states that the party is an open invitation, thus any artist who turns up can play music. The emphasis is on a DIY ethic. As well as local sound systems, who might act as the hosts, larger sound systems can spend the summer travelling from one teknival to the next before returning to their home country for the winter.

Music

Since a teknival can last a week or longer, many musical styles will be represented. The music which grew in tandem with teknivals was free tekno, which is characterised by heavy, repetitive kick drums and is normally about 180 bpm. The DJs and party goers are unconcerned by musical boundaries, so a lot of different, mostly electronic, music is played and performed.

Most Sound systems play styles such as acid techno, spiral tekno, terrorcore, electro, drum n bass, breakcore and speedcore. Instead of focusing on genre, the music can be characterised by being more underground than the music heard in clubs and at commercial parties. Some sound systems might specialise in a certain subgenre. The music is played by DJs playing vinyl records and Mp3 files on a computer. Livesets are also frequently played using a variety of equipment: keyboards, drum machines, guitar effects pedals, MIDI controller and computers.

At early teknivals sound systems would play until either no-one was left dancing or the diesel ran out in the generator.

Subculture

The teknival is a good example of what Hakim Bey has termed the Temporary Autonomous Zone. Anyone is welcome to enter the site, there is no ticket or fee. Normally any artist who turns up is encouraged to participate. Over the course of a few days the site can grow into a confusing village of sound systems, cafes, tents and vehicles.

Recreational drug use is common but by no means a prerequisite for entry. Drugs used include ketamine, MDMA (esctasy), alcohol, amphetamine (speed), LSD and magic mushrooms.

At the teknival site one finds a mixed group of young people which may include students, tekno travellers, squatters and hippies, bonded together by their love for listening to free tekno 'sous les etoiles' (translation: 'under the stars') - as an early flyer proclaimed.

There is no coherent politics or philosophical stance represented by the teknival subculture, mainly due to the fact that emphasis is placed on individual freedom. Many young teknival goers are disillusioned with mainstream politics. Nevertheless, the parties themselves can be seen as a political statement and clashes with the police have mobilised some people to action. In April 2006 there was a march followed by a small teknival in Strasbourg, France to protest against police repression generally and more specifically against the closure of Czechtek in 2005.

As is normal in any subculture, a dress code has developed. This 'underground look' involves dark, baggy clothing (often ex-military) and extreme haircuts, such as dyed hair, dreadlocks or a shaved head (or a combination of the above). Body piercings and tattoos are common. People often buy large vehicles second-hand such as decommissioned buses, coaches or trucks. The vehicles are often primarily homes, lived in permanently or for a few months while travelling (see Irish Traveller). They are also used to transport sound equipment. The tekno traveller is also known as a New Age traveller.

Clashes with authority

As the teknival movement has grown bigger, attention from the police has increased. Teknivals will sometimes be stopped; each country has different attitudes and laws concerning teknivals. To stop a teknival, police will usually begin by asking the organisers to move on but they can resort to measures such as using tear gas and impounding sound systems, for example at Czechtek in 2005^[7].

Teknivals still happen in Italy, Spain,Portugal, Poland, Bulgaria, Austria and Slovakia. In France amendments to a Public Safety bill were passed in 2001 giving the police similar powers to those exercised by the police in the United Kingdom under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 but the large size of the free tekno movement compels the government to permit three large teknivals every year: Paris (May), West (July) and South (August). Organisers have also used innovative tactics to allow the party to proceed, such as organising the party just over the border into other countries ^[8].

References

Notes

External links

[CJ94-1] Full Government text of Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 section 63

[2] ttp://www.undercurrents.org/desertstorm23/desert1.htm

[3] ttp://www.squall.co.uk/squall.cfm?sq=2002061403&ct=9

[4] ttp://www.crossbones.co.uk/uktek2002.htm

[5] ttp://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/05/312259.html

[6] ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_west/4593319.stm

[7] ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4738371.stm

[8] ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2196478.stm

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