Hundreds of thousands of revellers turned out for the return of Berlin’s Love Parade to enjoy a sunshine-filled day of techno music. The parade returned after a two-year gap caused by financial problems.

Organisers had hoped to attract one million people to the area around the Brandenburg Gate, which was recently home to the World Cup’s Fan Mile.

About 40 decorated floats drove through the streets with DJs aboard to entertain the crowds.

The Love Parade started out as a small rave back in 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell.

It continued to grow to a peak of 1.5 million in 1999, but numbers then began falling with commercialism and growing costs blamed for its decline.

It was then scrapped for two years until a German fitness company stepped in with sponsorship in a bid to revive it.

This year, under the banner The Love is back, dance music fans from across the world flocked back to the German capital.

“This is great! I’ve been waiting three years for this,” said Berliner Nicole Koehler, 25. “Hopefully it will be here every year from now on.”

The festival went on all day, with parties continuing at the city’s nightclubs.

Among those performing were international DJs Paul van Dyk, Westbam and Tiesto