Campus Party was declared open on Tuesday night after a warm welcome from founder Paco Ragageles and Philipp Rösler, the German Minister of Economics and Technology.
Campuseros from 77 different countries will now call the former Tempelhof Airport home for the next five days, and will be treated to over 600 hours of workshops, lectures and demonstrations at one of Europe’s biggest technology festivals.
The opening ceremony was hosted by Caroline Drucker of Etsy, and featured a welcome from Peter Rampling of Telefonica, and a video welcome from President José Manuel Barroso of the European Commission. Professor Michael Rotert, a German Internet pioneer and the recipient of the very first email was also at the ceremony, and was honoured for his contribution to technology.
After a 30 second countdown, the festival was declared open and Mother Nature provided fireworks in the form of thunder and lightning.
Campuseros at the Opening Ceremony