The event took place near the Gaza Strip and became one of the dramatic moments of Hamas’ invasion of Israel. The festival was born in 2000 in Brazil, has become a milestone in trance music and has won international editions
A Parallel universean electronic music party born in Brazil, ended up becoming, in one of its international editions, the target of the invasion of Israel by Hamas, on Saturday 7th, the largest attack against the country in recent decades.
Juarez Petrillo, Alok’s father and creator of the event, and the Brazilian fans present spoke of their despair at the missiles that exploded during the party and the dramatic escape as Hamas militants entered the border with the Gaza Strip, near the venue where the rave took place.
But what is Parallel Universe?
Universo Paralello is the name of an electronic music festival born in 2000. One of the founders is Juarez Petrillo, also known as DJ Swarup. The first editions were held in Goiás and the event grew to become one of the best-known brands of Brazilian electronic music, particularly of the subgenre called psytrance.
Between 2003 and 2004, Universo Paralello left the Center-West and began to take place in Bahia, where it still takes place today, on Pratigi beach. In general the event takes place every two years. It was interrupted during the pandemic, but has now increased in frequency, with an edition at the end of 2022 and another planned for 2023.
Universo Paralello is a rave – electronic music party, usually outdoors and in remote places, which takes place over one or more days. With his popularity, he began to sign events outside of Brazil as well. Last year, for example, Universo Paralello’s “teaser party” events in Mexico, Portugal and Spain were announced on the official profile.
Israeli edition of the Universo Parallelo world tour
The official profile of Universo Paralello also created, in August 2023, a post to publicize the event called “Israel Edition – Universo Paralello – World Tour” (in Portuguese, Israel Edition – Universo Paralello – World Tour). The event was scheduled from the early hours of Friday 6th to Saturday 7th. The DJ program was announced the day before.
Several Brazilian fans attended the party. One of them, Gabriela Barbosa, 33, from Rio Grande do Sul, said it Estadao It was precisely the fact that Universo Paralello was a Brazilian event that made her want to attend the rave.
“I’ve been here in Israel since the end of August to meet my boyfriend’s family and get to know the country. My boyfriend is Israeli. The paperback edition of Parallel Universe here in Israel was the only party we had planned to go to for sure with our friends, also because we really like going to the Parallel Universe there in Brazil, and a party here would be really special (…) The party was organized in an open field, but which they fenced off, very close in Riba de Gaza, in the State of Israel. According to the authorities, there were around 3,000 people here,” he said.
“Everyone was dancing, very happy. Then, in the morning, my boyfriend looked at the sky and said, ‘These are missiles coming from Gaza’. I was shocked because I had never seen anything like that since I was here. And at that moment the people began to scream and despair, because one came, then several arrived, they exploded in the air because of the anti-bomb system (…) The people began to despair, they wanted to escape from the party. Yes they turned off the music and told us on the microphone to lie down on the floor and cover our heads for about 10, 15 minutes,” Gabriela said.
She said the fans were targeted as they fled and that she was lucky to have left quickly and not headed towards Tel Aviv. According to Gabriela, those who headed towards the attacked city took more risks, and even more so those who decided to stay at the rave site, which was invaded by Hamas militants.
Alok says his father just sold the brand and was not an organizer
Okay he said on Saturday evening, the 7th, that his father was “safe in a bunker awaiting directions to return to Brazil”. Previously, Juarez posted videos of the event on his social networks, when shelling began in the conflict with Hamas. He reported: “War, brother, be serious (…) So far I’m in shock. And the bombs don’t stop exploding.”
URGENT: the edition of Universo Paralello in Israel was invaded by Hamas soldiers, who intervened by firing shots. The festival’s production team had to evacuate the area, but people were still killed.
Video by Juarez (Swarup), Alok’s father and creator of the festival. pic.twitter.com/Z8wgnHto4M
— COBAT (@artcobat) October 7, 2023
According to Alok, Juarez licensed the rights to the Universo Paralello brand only to Israeli producers and was not the organizer of the party there.
“My father was hired to perform at an event that licensed the rights to use the festival name, as has happened in many other countries. The Israeli producer licensed the use of the brand and produced the ‘event alone, while my father was the first. of the attractions.”
Regarding today’s events, I am horrified and still shocked by the cowardly attack against thousands of innocent people with the use of more than 2500 missiles during the invasion of several locations in southern Israel.
As many of you know, my father was in one of those overgrown places and about…
— Alok (@alokoficial) October 8, 2023
Source: Terra
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
