Berlin's city centre pulsed to thumping techno beats on today as hundreds of thousands of scantily clad ravers thronged the German capital for the 13th annual Love Parade dance music fest.
Overcast skies and confusion over whether the open-air party was going ahead kept attendance early in the day at 400,000, well below last year's million plus, but did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the whistle-blowing ravers.
Sindy, 22, and Ela, 19, from the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and wearing pink furry bras and matching handkerchief-sized miniskirts, were unworried that there were fewer people at the parade than last year.
It means we've more room to dance and wiggle, they said, drawing appreciative whistles from passers-by for their revealing outfit s. Shiny G-string bikinis and fluorescent fluffy snow boots were the exhibitionists' costume of choice at the world's biggest and brashest dance music party.
Rico, a 20-year-old student from Frankfurt-an-der-Oder attending his eighth Love Parade, was particularly proud of his beige furry cowboy flares.
I used the sitting room rugs to make these, he said.
Hundreds of DJs were due to serve up tunes from 50 floats. One float was offering wedding services for ravers.
Some 2,000 police wearing Love Parade badges and over 800 health workers were monitoring the event. Police said they had detained 23 people so far, two for robbery and the rest for drug-related offences.
For a long time it looked as if the event would be cancelled. It was due to be held on July 14, but thwarted by an environmentalist group. After weeks of wrangling over costs and dates, the city agreed to let the parade roll out a week later.
The Love Parade has lost its status as a demonstration