Sanctioned by the City of Detroit, the festival is held in Hart Plaza adjacent to downtown. It is the first public acknowledgement and celebration of the area as the birthplace of techno music.
The first festival was held in 2000 and reportedly drew over one million visitors during the course of its 3-day run. Subsequent festivals have seen even higher attendance, although local businesses that did not see a tourism-related windfall have disputed the generous attendance estimates.
Attendance estimates (based on visual estimates by police and city officials):
Pop Culture Media, the business entity that owns the DEMF name and that oversaw much of the organization of the first three festivals, wrestled each year with a coalition of local techno music producers for creative control over the events. During the 2001 and 2002 festivals, attendees galvanized their support for the musicians and against PCM and its head Carol Marvin, who was seen as being out of touch with the music and who was accused of over-commercializing the event.
In February 2003, the City of Detroit sided with the fans, awarding local techno musician Derrick May the use of Hart Plaza for a version of the festival organized by May and his associates. The festival took place as planned, but the its name had to be changed to due to PCM's ownership of the DEMF name. Pop Culture Media stated that they intend to continue organizing competing festivals under the name DEMF, but nothing has yet materialized.
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