Something special just happened outside Düsseldorf: Germany’s largest electronic music festival, Parookaville. The festival just had its third annual anniversary, and it was, in a word, insane.
Founded in 2014, Parookaville has had great success in delivering the world’s biggest DJs straight to Germany’s largest dance music scene. This year, the ground served home to more than 80,000 attendees, complete with 10 stages and more than 200 artists on the lineup.
As one of Europe’s largest electronic music festivals, it was interesting to compare the experience here to that of American festivals. In comparing a festival like Parookaville to something like Electric Zoo or even TomorrowWorld, some obvious differences were apparent.
One big difference seems to be drug use. I don’t know if it’s Germany’s love of beer as an alternative, but I was shocked at how few drugs were being consumed at Parookaville. Speaking solely for American festivals, almost every attendee can share some kind of story by weekend’s end where they witnessed someone at the festival deep in a “K-Hole” or heard of a friend buying “fake molly.” In Germany, however, I did not witness a single person noticeably intoxicated on drugs. After making a note of this at the end of the day one, I chalked it up to “Germans love beer” and maybe I just didn’t see enough of the festival yet. Stiff security, maybe? Wrong. Parookaville had some of the most lax — yet most professional — workers I’ve ever seen at a festival. Aside from a group of friends who posed as “stage crew,” only to be almost immediately busted during the artist’s set, the weekend went without any major hiccups. Note to “stage crew”: if you’re going to make it in, don’t give yourself up by jumping on stage and trying to dance with NGHTMRE. Parookaville provided a fun and safe atmosphere for all, and it was so memorable. Music lovers came out to truly listen and enjoy.
Parookaville provided a great environment for a festival, combining both immaculate and historic grounds, with a stacked and diverse lineup. 
While the lineup was techno-heavy, it catered to many other genres electronic music as well, including what possibly might be one of the most epic bass-heavy stage days we’ve seen yet, thanks to BOOTSHAUS. Check out the lineup (at right) just for Saturday alone.
If you’re looking for that festival “second-wind” in an industry that is always searching for new and fresh material, Parookaville is the answer. In their third installment, they truly have built something special in the hills of Germany.
One major thing to note about Parookaville was the stellar production quality of their live stream and set replays. Quite honestly, this may be the best-looking live stream I’ve ever seen. From the camera work to the quality of the stream, I haven’t seen many that can compare with the job their production team did this year. Bravo! MagentaMusik 360 provided full coverage for Parookaville 2017 and a select number of set replays can be found here.
To get your tickets for Parookaville 2018, click here.
Check out set highlights on DA‘s Instagram, and view our event photos here.
Read more:
Photos from Parookaville 2017 (Weeze, Germany)
Photos from Bro Safari, Anna Lunoe, Mr. Carmack, & Kyle at The Greatest Day Ever 2017 (NYC 7/15)
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