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Germany's largest electronic music event is the latest addition to Superstruct Entertainment's burgeoning festival portfolio
By Jon Chapple on 07 Aug 2019
London-based Superstruct Entertainment has partnered with Next Events, the independent promoter behind Germany’s largest electronic music festival, Parookaville.
Financial terms of the deal – an “investment and partnership agreement” similar to the one signed with Norway’s Øya Festival last August – were not disclosed, and Next Events’ management team remains in place.
Founded in 2015, Parookaville (85,000-cap.) takes place in Weeze, North Rhine-Westphalia, over three days in July. Its 2019 edition – for which the Weeze Airport site was christened ‘Madness City’ – featured performances from Steve Aoki, Afrojack, Armin van Buuren, Richie Hawtin and Paul van Dyk, and sold out in record time, reporting more than 200,000 visits over the course of the event.
In a joint statement, Bernd Dicks, Georg van Wickeren and Norbert Bergers, co-founders of Next Events, say: “Through our partnership, we will join Superstruct’s network of high-calibre live entertainment brands and businesses, which will create opportunities for us to continue growing Parookaville.
“In just a few years, Next Events has grown Parookaville into one of the leading electronic music festivals on the global stage”
“With our great team, we will remain at the helm for the long term and focus on ensuring that we continue to promote a leading edge experience to our citizens, while staying true to our motto of promoting madness, love and pure happiness.”
James Barton, CEO of Superstruct, adds: “In just a few years, Next Events has grown Parookaville into one of the leading electronic music festivals on the global stage. We are delighted to partner with the team at Next Events and look forward to working together to make Parookaville even more impressive.”
Superstruct Entertainment, backed by private-equity firm Providence Equity Partners, also owns and operates Sziget (Hungary), Flow Festival (Finland), Sónar (Spain) and party promoter Elrow. Its most recent acquisitions are Down the Drain (Northside, Tinderbox) in Denmark and several UK events formerly owned by Global.
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