Alternative Party is a

demoscene The demoscene is an international computer art subculture focused on producing demos: self-contained, sometimes extremely small, computer programs that produce audiovisual presentations. The purpose of a demo is to show off programming, visual ...

and

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

event in Finland. It was first organized in 1998 in

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

and since 2000 in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. The event is organized by Alternative Party ry, a non-profit association. Alternative Party is one of the largest

demo parties Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

in Finland. The aim of the event is to encourage artists (both demoscene and traditional arts) to creativity and new perspectives – regardless of the used equipment. The event is known for its peculiar competitions. The main focus has traditionally mean on less common computers, although PCs are currently accepted as well. The competitions—except for the main demo competition—tend to change every year as an extra challenge. There is also a traditional concert on the first evening, featuring artists of demoscene background playing live music. The seventh Alternative Party was held on 2-4 November 2007 in Helsinki. Speakers included

Al Lowe Albert William Lowe (born July 24, 1946) is an American video game designer, programmer, and musician who developed several adventure games, mostly for Sierra On-Line. He is best known for creating the ''Leisure Suit Larry'' series. He has also ...

, creator of the legendary

Leisure Suit Larry ''Leisure Suit Larry'' is an adult-themed sexual video game series created by Al Lowe. It was published by Sierra from 1987 to 2009, then by Codemasters starting in 2009. The first six ''Leisure Suit Larry'' titles, along with ''Magna Cum Lau ...

series of games. The Alternative Party held on 24-26 October 2008 in Helsinki was the first time that one of the big pioneers of industrial music, Front 242, played for a Finnish audience. The special guest of honour was

Brad Templeton Brad Templeton (born June 1960 near Toronto) is a Canadian software developer, internet entrepreneur, online community pioneer, publisher of news, comedy, science fiction and e-books, writer, photographer, civil rights advocate, futurist, public s ...

, founder of

ClariNet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

and, from 2008, chairman of the

Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...

. Cyberpunk themed Alt Party 2009 was held on 23-25 October 2009 at Cable Factory (

Kaapelitehdas Kaapelitehdas ( Finnish for "the Cable Factory", also called simply Kaapeli, sv, Kabelfabriken) is a famous building in Salmisaari, Helsinki, near the Lauttasaari bridge. It was redeveloped from its industrial use into a cultural centre which ...

), Helsinki.

Notable special guests

* 2002:

Robert J. Mical Robert J. "RJ" Mical (born 26 January 1956) is an American computer programmer and hardware designer who has primarily worked in video games. He is best known for creating the user interface, Intuition (Amiga), Intuition, for Commodore's Amiga ...

* 2003:

Jeff Minter Jeff Minter (born 22 April 1962) is an independent English video game designer and programmer who often goes by the name Yak. He is the founder of software house Llamasoft and has created dozens of games during his career, which began in 19 ...

* 2004:

Jyrki Kasvi Jyrki Jouko Juhani Kasvi (6 January 1964 – 16 November 2021) was a Finnish politician, and a member of the Finnish Parliament, representing the Green League. Biography Kasvi held a Ph.D. in Engineering from the Helsinki University of Techno ...

* 2007:

* 2008: Front 242,

* 2009:

Dope Stars Inc. Dope Stars Inc. is an Italian alternative and industrial rock band from Rome, formed in 2003. The band was founded by Victor Love, Darin Yevonde, Grace Khold and Brian Wolfram. They have five albums and three EPs released, with the latest being re ...

Jeri Ellsworth Jeri Janet Ellsworth (born August 14, 1974) is an American entrepreneur, computer chip designer and inventor. She gained fame in 2004 for creating a complete Commodore 64 emulator system on a chip housed within a joystick, called Commodore ...

Sophie Wilson Sophie Mary Wilson (born Roger Wilson; June 1957) is an English computer scientist, who helped design the BBC Micro and ARM architecture. Wilson first designed a microcomputer during a break from studies at Selwyn College, Cambridge. She su ...

* 2010: Casey Pugh, Sini Merikallio, JP Metsävainio

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.altparty.org/ Demo parties Culture in Helsinki Recurring events established in 1998 Arts festivals in Finland Autumn events in Finland