The Lollapalooza festival Berlin

Berlin's party people have a reputation. They are said to be picky, which is not surprising if you take into account that they can go out and party extensively on any given day of the week in the German capital. There's no lack of concerts, either. No guitar rock newcomer, electro artist or rapper passes up an opportunity to play on the Berlin club scene.

The same is true for the big names: few international acts leave out the party capital on their world tours. So if event organizers want to get Berlin's attention, they need to come up with something special.

That's what the Lollapalooza Festival has set out to do.

Organizers have invited 120 artists to play at Berlin's former Tempelhof Airport. The lineup includes Muse, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Fatboy Slim, as well as many street artists, cooks and designers.

Global brand

This unique concept has made Lollapalooza one of the big draws in the festival business. In Chicago in July, the three-day event that featured, among many others, the likes of Paul McCartney and Metallica, attracted 160,000 punters. Berlin is the fourth international location to join the Lollapalooza stable, alongside Chile, Brazil and Argentina. Next year, Lollapalooza plans a festival in the Columbian capital Bogota.

But this weekend, it's Berlin. The idea to come to Europe had been floating around for a while, says Fruzsina Szep. The festival director for the German Lollapalooza works for the Hörstmann Group, which also stages the Melt! and Splash! festivals in Germany. She says the choice of location was no question for the American partners, C3 Presents: "The C3 think Berlin is very cool, they see it as the culture capital of Europe."

Szep is an old hand at mass events. For eight years, the Hungarian organized the Sziget Festival, a major European festival that annually lures 400,000 visitors to an island in Budapest.

But the Lollapalooza has its own special requirements. It is after all a legendary US brand that needs to be established meticulously and as authentically as possible on the former airport grounds.

Morrissey, Homer and the Kung Fu Monks

The term Lollapalooza emerged in the late 19th century, and can mean either an unusual thing or a huge lollipop. In 1990, Californian singer Perry Farrell chose the word as a motto for the farewell tour of his band, Jane's Addiction. The band toured the US and Canada along with the Nine Inch Nails, Ice-T, Morrissey and Living Colour. They were accompanied by a circus-like freak show, the famous fighting Shaolin monks and numerous non-profit organizations.

In the heyday of grunge and alternative rock, this motley group captured the spirit of the times. Jane's Addiction parted ways, but Lollapalooza was there to stay, and is staged annually, with different artists each time.

In 1996, the festival received the ultimate stamp of cult approval when it was spoofed in an episode of "The Simpsons." Homer finds out he can repel cannon balls with his formidable belly, and joins the road show. A year after "Homerpalooza" aired, the festival was staged for one last time, only to be revived in 2003 and instituted as a fixed date on the Chicago event calendar.

Social responsibility

In the meantime, Lollapalooza has turned into a festival with an environmental conscience. Instead of leaving behind tons of garbage, the organizers want to foster ecological awareness, although without being too sanctimonious about it - careful to respect local customs.

In Chile, for instance, issues like separating waste or composting are still in at an early stage. "In Chicago, we've already made some headway," Fruzsina Szep says. "In Berlin, it's different again, people here are much more environmentally conscious." For the Berlin festival, her team came up with the idea of a "green neighborhood" where environmental groups have an opportunity to get festival goers directly involved in lively interaction.

Bikesurf.org, a platform for bike-sharing, is one of the start ups lined up. Kidzapalooza is aimed at showing people that festivals can be family-friendly, and street theater, acrobats, art activities, fashion shows and stalls offering unusual food round out the full Lollapalooza experience.

But first and foremost, of course, people want to listen to music. Over the years, the spectrum has broadened. The two main stages will feature artists as diverse as Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Deichkind, Tame Impala, Muse, Sam Smith and Seeed.

Perry's Stage, named after the founder of the festival, features electronic dance music, including Fatboy Slim, Felix Jaehn, Klangkarrussell, Robin Schulz and Skrillex & Boys Noize.

Will he make it?

There will be no shortage of guitar music at Lollapalooza Berlin, either. Festival goers eagerly await the recently reunited The Libertines and its lead singer Pete Doherty, boy wonder and problem child of the British Indie rock scene - and a notorious latecomer. The organizers have pledged to end the show at 11 pm on the dot, arguing that a good relationship with the neighborhood is part of the festival philosophy. How do they plan to make sure Doherty is on stage on time on Saturday evening?

"If there's one thing I've learned in organizing festivals, it's prayer," Szep says. "But I'm confident he'll make it."