Dancing for a Movement - The #noG20 Protest Parade

Thousands congregated in Hamburg for the “Lieber tanz ich als G20” #noG20 anti-capitalism protest last month. Peaceful activists took over the streets, calling on the world to make Hamburg a focal point of the resistance against capitalist authorities. Armed with beer, music, and a desire for positive change, the protest was a raucously nonviolent street party full of laughter and sparkles.

Stocksy’s Christian Zielecki joined the peaceful “freedom festival” protest with 25,000 other radical lovers, dancers and believers, documenting the day for the world to see the other side of the G20 protests; the side that chose to fight with celebration, dance battles and glitter bombs.

Words by Christian Zielecki

It was one of the first big #noG20 protests with several trucks playing electro & techno music on their way through downtown. I was at the tail end following the last truck and all I could see was a sea of people, no end in sight.

People were dancing to the beat surrounded by loud music, fog & swarms of confetti. Masses of it. I’m still finding little speckles in my jacket and camera bag.

The protest actually felt like a big music festival, which totally fits with the protest’s name “Lieber tanz ich als G20” (which rhymes beautifully in German — translating roughly to “I’d rather dance than G20”). Everything was peaceful, but not quiet by any means. People were happy. They were kissing, dancing, drinking. It was the only protest that wasn’t stopped by the police.

Sadly, the #noG20 demo rave coverage was lost in mass media representation as the more explosive riots of the following days clouded its predecessors. The extremists set the city centre on fire and the police intervened, bludgeoning photographers, press and protesters. I put my pictures in the protest’s Facebook group and got a lot of feedback on them: these festival pictures are the ones they want to associate with G20 — not the violence the media so often chooses to sensationalize.