Paradise City Festival to celebrate 10 years of activity

Paradise City Festival is getting ready for its tenth edition, which will take place on June 27, 28, and 29 2025 in the exquisite gardens of Ribaucourt Castle in Perk, Steenokkerzeel following a few calm months. Starting on Wednesday, January 8 at 12:00, are ticket sales.

From a small celebration with just 5,500 guests over two days in 2015, what began ten years ago is now a globally acknowledged event.

Paradise City stays loyal to its basic values: superb music, innovative staging, and strong attention to sustainability, with more than 43,000 attendees in 2024 and an amazing line-up of 134 musicians across seven stages.

Organiser Gilles De Decker underlines that the route to success has not been without difficulties.

We started rather naively, with a lot of idealism and a clear vision, but it has taken years to get to where we are today. The second edition in 2016 was almost the end of Paradise City. Heavy rain and mud kept visitors away, and financially, it was a disaster. That we continued after that edition still feels like a small miracle.

Paradise City once more showed its fortitude during COVID-19. The crew set up 20 smaller events on a lake with 60 boats for groups of eight and the DJ along the waterfront while most celebrations were called off.

 It was a creative solution in a difficult time, and it felt great to bring people together safely during those tough times – De Decker says.

Ten years of Paradise City reveals many highlights when one looks back. Gilles describes a pure bliss moment on the Castle Stage in 2019 from DJ Koze’s performance:

The energy broke loose, and everything came together perfectly. It was magical – Job Jobse’s closing set at the Forest Stage last summer also sticks with him – Never before have I experienced such intensity and euphoria.

Paradise City, in the meantime, is likewise looking outside Belgium. Next August, the celebration in Austria will feature the fourth edition of the Paradies Garten Festival, a rather smaller-scale event with three stages next to a castle outside Vienna. With success, the same fundamental principles of excellent artists, sustainability, and beautiful surroundings are carried through here. A clear taste for Austrian music has developed among enthusiasts. “It feels fantastic to see our idea flourish abroad,” notes De Decker.

Thanks to outstanding accomplishments in energy, waste management, water saving, and sustainable mobility, Paradise City was given the esteemed AGF Awards as the most sustainable music event in 2024 worldwide. The festival set itself apart with creative solar energy solutions, reusable materials, and environmentally friendly transportation choices like more trains and electric shuttle buses.

Organiser Gilles De Decker stresses – Festivals can have a negative impact on the environment. That is why we keep improving ourselves and want to set an example for a sustainable future. While we are proud of what we have achieved, we know there is still much work to do.

Whatever the future brings, quality music will always remain central at Paradise City.

We want to remain cutting-edge and continue to represent the current scene – De Decker – We consciously choose quality over quantity and stick to intimate stages without big growth ambitions regarding visitor numbers. Making good electronic music bigger and highlighting the cultural impact remains our mission.

Although the first half of this summer’s lineup will be revealed next week, the organizers already suggested a special combination of modern artists and iconic pioneers.

Our tenth anniversary is a tribute to the founding fathers of electronic music – says De Decker. – They laid the foundations for the culture we cherish. At the same time, we are looking ahead by offering new talent a place next to the veterans – side by side, shoulder to shoulder. It will be a meeting of generations bursting with energy and creativity.

Paradise City 2025 tickets will start to sell on the website on Wednesday, January 8 at 12:00. Those who wish to be sure should be fast since tickets often sell out fast.

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