Berlin plans people's party to mark 25 years since fall of Wall

A boy kicks against a concrete segment of the Berlin Wall at the Bernauer Strasse in Berlin October 13, 2014. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German capital will mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a huge street party around the Brandenburg Gate celebrating the part ordinary people played in bringing down communism in eastern Europe.

The festivities for Nov. 9 will contrast sharply with the more solemn 20th anniversary, when dignitaries including former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Poland's Lech Walesa joined the events at the Gate, once a symbol of Europe's partition.