Free Party

A free party is a party "free" from the restrictions of the legal club scene, similar to the free festival movement. It 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 if the party becomes a festival, it becomes 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 in this context is used both to describe the entry fee and the lack of restrictions and law enforcement. Motivations for organisers range from political protest to just wanting to have fun. An example of free parties as political protest was their prominence during the M11 link road protest. At most parties no money is asked for entrance since the aim is not to make profit. However at some (most often indoor) events it is requested at the door to make a donation to cover costs. Typically organisers make little profit or make a loss setting them up.

The term free party is used more widely in Europe than in the US. In Canada and some parts of Europe they are also referred to as Freetekno parties. A free party might have once been described as a rave, and the origins of the two are similar. Since the birth of nightclubs in town centres in Europe the use of the word rave had largely fallen out of fashion, however in recent times it is increasingly being used again.

The term squat party defines the free parties with secret indoor locations. The address is obtained in the day of the event personally from organizers as the buildings are squatted. The parties often last over 24 hours.

Read more about Free Party:  History, Typical Party, Squat Party, Drugs, Security, Locations

Famous quotes containing the words free and/or party:

    We are all bound to the throne of the Supreme Being by a flexible chain which restrains without enslaving us. The most wonderful aspect of the universal scheme of things is the action of free beings under divine guidance.
    Joseph De Maistre (1753–1821)

    The success of a party means little more than that the Nation is using the party for a large and definite purpose.... It seeks to use and interpret a change in its own plans and point of view.
    Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)