Berlin's Love Parade has been cancelled for the second year in a row, after organisers failed to secure funding for the dance event.
Organisers say Germany's ailing economy made it difficult to secure essential corporate sponsorship.
They hope to revive the July event in time for Germany's hosting of the football World Cup in 2006.
The parade began as a small techno rave in 1989 before growing to attract up to 1.5 million people at its peak in 1999.
"We will do everything we can, in co-operation with the city-state of Berlin, industry and the media, to find a way to make a comeback the year of the World Cup," said Sabine Bremermann of the Love Parade.
City officials blame the parade's management for the event's cancellation, claiming they failed to move with the times.
Commercial venture
Organisers used to leave Berlin to pick up the costs of putting on the parade and the clean-up operation by claiming the event was a political demonstration.
But a court ruled in 2001 that it was a commercial venture and the city was not longer liable to carry the costs.
Berlin's Love Parade spawned a number of spin-offs around the world, including Switzerland, Chile and the US.
However the Berlin event remained the biggest, attracting world famous DJs from around the world, while thousands of visitors flocked to the German capital to experience the hedonistic atmosphere.
Although numbers had been declining, the 2003 event was hailed a successful party but, as in previous years, it incurred financial losses.
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