"'In the beginning, especially, sometimes Americans would come in S.S. uniforms, and it was always a big, big problem,' said Alain Rappsilber, a chimney sweep..."

"... and a Folsom board member who described himself as 'kink-free.' (When asked his profession, he emphasized that being a chimney sweep was 'not a fetish, it is actually my job.') The ban on Nazis appeared to be more widely respected this year than the prohibition on nudity and public sex, which became more loosely observed as the crowd got drunker and the afternoon turned to evening. Organizers said the people who act out each year tend to be tourists. 'Here in Berlin, people don’t need to go crazy because it is normal for us to have a beer in public or to walk around and see someone’s uncovered backside,' said Mr. Ruester, the festival co-founder."

From "Classical Music and Fetishes Unite in Historical Center of Gay Culture/Folsom Europe, a five-day festival of concerts and street parties, celebrates gay life, the leather scene and hard-won freedoms in Berlin" (NYT).

(Folsom is the name of a street in San Franciso, there's a Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco, and that's why this is Folsom Europe.)