World Peace Party

It is widely understood that the World Peace Party was the first warehouse Rave in Africa. The date was Friday, 13th of September, 1990.

The event was produced in South Africa, by Cape Town based UFO productions. Founders Carl Mason and Jesse Stagg teamed up to start UFO (alleged to stand for alternately: Unlimted Freak Out or Unity of People, Freedom of Epression, Original Ideas). The event featured live musical acts in the form of proto punk-rappers the MC's from UNCLE, other local Rap and early House acts, and headlined by DJ Giorgio (?). The event ran for about twenty hours and was attended by approximately 3,500 people.

The venue was the Nautilus soundstage and studio in the Paarden Eiland industrial zone, in an area on the edge of Cape Town, reclaimed from the ocean. The location came with a 40 foot by 10 foot Infinity Curve, which was incorporated as an elaborate fluorescent mural that depicted the "journey of the beat" from Africa through Europe and the West and back to Africa in the form of a UFO. The mural was painted in a Hip Hop style and incorporated Amiga style custom computer animations promoting positive affirmations and distinctive UFO branding. This level of sophistication was revolutionary in the early years of the international Rave scene.

The World Peace Party featured an inside and outside area complete with the soon to be ubiquitous fun park of: inflatable castles, human Gyroscopes and vendors serving fast foods and miscellany.

Given the political context of the time and with a heavy handed Apartheid regime still in power and Nelson Mandela still in prison, security was a major concern. The promoters assembled a large team of well trained and mixed race security personnel, who managed with great finesse and respect the overwhelmingly mixed race crowd who had rarely, if ever, partied together with such abandon.

The following dawn many hundreds of participants dotted the sided of the N1 highway as they walked the several miles back to Cape Town, many hours after their transport had left.

More of a Posse than a production company, the UFO team comprised a loose band of artists, designers, students, models, engineers and partyers. UFO comprised in part: Nik Jevons, Brendan Smithers, Roger Young, Ray and Andrew Mackay, Nicole Abel, Toni Dorfman, Edward Petersen, among others.

ummerluv

It is arguable that the first Rave took place in the same location 6 months earlier, under the name Summerluv. This event was produced by Messrs Stagg in conjunction with Anton Resnekov. Although seminal, and well received on a smaller scale with only about 400 punters present, It was certainly the first expression of this genre on the continent.

Vandalism: During the ubiquitous marketing campaign, the signature black and white teaser posters, emblazoned with a strong 3D graphic of a Peace symbol and only the date, Friday the 13th of September, were mysteriously vandalized with green paint all over the city. Evidence suggested it was the work of a lunatic Christian fringe group, who took issue with the Peace sign, claiming Satanic influence. Ironically, the promoters used this to their advantage and enlisted the State media to publicise the event.