(Originally published before the 2018 edition of Return to Rio)
Editor’s note (2025): Where’s Return to Rio now?
This interview was originally published before the 2018 edition of Return to Rio, one of Australia’s most loved boutique festivals. Sadly, the festival itself hasn’t returned since the devastating bushfires and the long lockdown years of COVID-19.
But the Return to Rio spirit is still very much alive through a series of unforgettable events in Sydney that keep the magic going. From the Sudbeat Showcase with Hernán Cattáneo & Anthony Pappa to epic open-air nights featuring Deep Dish, Rodriguez Jr., Super Flu, and Samantha Loveridge, the team continues to curate the kind of parties that remind us why we fell in love with dance music in the first place.
Here’s a look back at one of our earlier interviews with Return to Rio founder Ricky Cooper, as he shared the story behind the festival that became the stuff of legends.
“From the Magic Techno Diary: How We Party in Australia”
If you’ve been following my adventures, you probably know that I live on the other side of the world – in sunny Sydney, Australia. While you’re getting ready for winter back home, here the summer season is just about to begin. And with it comes a wave of open-air festivals.
The first one that caught my eye was Return to Rio – a two-day boutique festival located just outside of Sydney. This year it celebrates its fifth anniversary, and I was lucky enough to sit down with the festival’s founder, Ricky Cooper, to talk about how it all began.
So if you’re curious to know how we party down under .. keep reading.
Interview with Ricky Cooper
Kouzelná: Where are you originally from?
Ricky: London but I’ve lived in Australia for 15 years now.
When did you come up with the idea for Return to Rio?
About seven years ago… There was once a great little festival everyone loved, held at Del Rio Resort, called Playground Weekender. Unfortunately, it came to an end, so a few years later, I thought it was about time to return to Rio. Hence the name.
We heard that the first festival was actually by the pool, can you tell us more?
Yes, the original concept was to keep it very small. The idea was to only sell 1,000 Golden Tickets by hand for a 3-day pool party. Basically, similar to Willy Wonka’s Golden Tickets… if you got your hands on one, you’d be thrilled.
Have you ever been in Rio?
Yes, I recently went to Rio on my honeymoon, it’s a fabulous place.
The online magazine hhhhappy.com described the Rio festival as being similar to Burning Man. Have you ever been to Burning Man?
Yes indeed, I had the time of my life in 2011. Met some wonderful people and DJ’d at some really cool parties in the dust. Actually, the idea for our Random Acts of Kindness was inspired by all the gifting that goes on at Burning Man. In today’s world, the idea of sharing with others (especially those you don’t even know) is such a wonderful concept, we had to bring it to Return to Rio.
Did you meet your girlfriend at a festival? Or where did the idea of “Rio dating” come from?
No, my wife and I met at a friend’s house. The idea of setting people up at Rio came from being told time and time again by couples they’d met on our dance floor — and a few have even tied the knot since. There’s so much love and good vibes at Rio, it’s the perfect place to fall in love.
Tell us about the worst experience that you’ve had during the festival — for example, when a DJ didn’t show up or bad weather hit.
I think the worst thing we’ve had happen was in the early days when Ten Walls played, back when it was just a pool party. Someone in the crowd accidentally squirted him with a water pistol and he stormed off stage at the beginning of his live show. He refused to go back on because he felt he’d been disrespected.
Tell us about the best experience.
Last year I was told, the day he was due to perform, that Lee Foss hadn’t been granted entrance into Australia, so he couldn’t play. So, I wrote a statement on Facebook to let everyone know. Someone wrote on our wall that we should ask Carl Cox to fill in, and jokingly I wrote underneath “worth an ask”. Later on, while I was DJ’ing I received a tap on the shoulder from Eric Powell saying Coxy had read it and was happy to fill in. I kept it quiet, saying only that a special guest was replacing Lee. The cheers from the crowd when he walked onto the stage were very special indeed.
When it comes to the line-up, what artist are you looking forward to seeing the most? And where do you get inspiration for choosing the DJs?
That’s a tough one. I have to admit, this year I’ve been very self-indulgent and have booked some of my favourite acts from a range of electronic music genres and am probably more excited about this year’s lineup than ever. If I had to pick someone, I’d have to say Lee Burridge. I’ve been trying to get him over to play for a while now. We like happy tunes!
When choosing the artists, I try to cover at least a few different genres so there’s something for everyone — and to throw in a few acts that people might not know about, so they discover something new. Although they seem to be trending at the moment, I tend to stay away from “noisy” acts that don’t have any soul, because that’s just not what Rio’s about.
Festivals in Australia get a lot of bad press from people dying from taking illicit substances or overdosing on drugs. Why don’t more organisers ensure pill testing facilities are available?
As promoters we all totally agree and wish we were able to do pill testing at our events. Sadly, the Australian Police Force don’t believe in pill testing facilities and won’t allow them to be used at festivals in NSW. We believe a large number of these incidents are caused by the fear from over-policing that this zero-tolerance approach creates. This often leads to younger kids panicking and taking all their drugs at once when they see a heavy police presence and lots of sniffer dogs at the entrance. Hopefully they’ll come to their senses soon and make it a safer environment for everyone.
How would you describe the music scene here in Australia?
The music scene is really vibrant. It was sad to see the Sydney lock-out laws lead to most of Sydney’s bars and clubs closing down, but the festivals and events have boomed in their place. So there are a lot of new and exciting things happening here. In Melbourne the music scene is very much alive and kicking — similar to Europe.
What other festivals would you recommend to techno travellers from Europe?
There are loads of amazing festivals happening here in Australia. Some of our favourites are Subsonic, Electric Gardens, Rainbow Serpent, Lost Paradise, Strawberry Fields, Let Them Eat Cake, Pitch and Days Like This.