Bernd Dicks

Bernd Dicks is co-founder and CEO of the PAROOKAVILLE Festival. Founded in 2015, the dance event in Weeze (near Düsseldorf, Germany) has grown in just five years to become Germany’s largest EDM festival, attracting 225,000 visitors per year. What makes the festival special is the unique story of the fictional town of PAROOKAVILLE. Every guest becomes a ‘citizen’ for the weekend. Upon arrival, visitors receive a “citizen’s pass”, can get married in the Chapel, pass their swimming test in the Swimming Pool, or send a postcard to their loved ones back home from the Post Office – complete with an official PAROOKAVILLE postmark, of course. Bernd Dicks set the whole thing up with two friends and business partners never having organized a festival before. Previously, Dicks worked as a freelance journalist and, among other things, reported for Radio 1LIVE on Tomorrowland, Spring Break in Mexico and many other festivals around the world.