CloudFest 2025 is officially over, and I’m still processing everything from last week. Four days at Europa-Park in Germany, surrounded by 10,000+ cloud industry people, was equal parts exhausting and exhilarating.
Image credit: Cloudfest
The theme park conference (seriously)
Let’s start with the obvious – CloudFest happens at an actual theme park. Europa-Park in Rust, Germany transforms into cloud computing central every March. This creates an atmosphere you simply don’t get at normal conferences.
The Blue Fire coaster launches you from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds, which feels about the same pace as cloud technology evolution these days. The Silver Star hits 130 km/h and subjects you to 4G forces – roughly equivalent to what your infrastructure feels during unexpected traffic spikes.
The new Voltron Nevera rollercoaster was this year’s highlight – the world’s steepest launch at 105 degrees. After watching two brave souls attempt it, I decided my stomach wasn’t ready for that particular innovation.
CloudFest CEO Christian Jaeger and WebPros CEO Christian Koch even recorded themselves delivering business pitches while riding rollercoasters. Their expressions during the drops were priceless.
Key themes & memorable sessions
This year’s overarching theme was “The Human Edge” – exploring what humans bring to technology that AI can’t replace. Timely, considering AI dominated almost every conversation.
Monday featured parallel tracks for WordPress and agency professionals. Mary Hubbard from Automattic delivered a compelling talk on WordPress’s role in digital freedom. The “AI Meets WordPress” panel revealed deep divisions in how the WordPress community views artificial intelligence – tool or threat? Both, probably.
Image credit: Cloudfest
Some sessions that got people talking:
- The AI-powered Einstein AMA fireside chat was simultaneously impressive and unsettling. Also, using AI to resurrect Einstein for a discussion about ethics and humanity’s future was poetically ironic.
- Cory Doctorow’s keynote on “Enshittification” perfectly captured how platforms decline over time. His argument that they first lure users, then squeeze them, then finally abuse suppliers rang painfully true.
- Karlheinz Brandenburg’s talk on creating MP3 technology felt like witnessing tech history. The creator of technology that transformed music consumption shared insights about innovation that apply perfectly to today’s cloud challenges.
- Roger Dingledine’s session on Tor revealed surprising complexity behind privacy technology. As cloud providers face increasing regulatory scrutiny around data privacy, his insights seemed particularly relevant.
Ditlev Bredahl’s session “Why Aren’t You Making Money from AI?” cut through the hype perfectly. With everyone rushing to implement AI, his focus on actual monetization strategies exposed the gap between excitement and execution.
Exhibition observations
The Cloud Fair exhibition hall buzzed with activity all week. Intel sponsored the space and had a substantial presence, as did Ampere, HPE, and Webpros. A pleasant surprise was seeing our partners Firstcolo, announcing their new 24MW, €250M data center project in Rosbach vor der Höhe, Germany.
AI dominated almost every booth conversation. The pattern was clear: traditional cloud and hosting companies are frantically adding AI capabilities to their offerings. Some demonstrations showed genuine innovation rather than hasty add-ons to catch the AI wave.
Amid the AI noise, the cybersecurity vendors seemed to be gaining traction. With Oliver Sild’s session on WordPress security revealing concerning vulnerability statistics, the focus on protection makes sense. The cloud industry seems to be acknowledging that security can’t be an afterthought anymore.
People & connections
The real value of CloudFest comes from the connections. We met old friends, as well as new, interesting people. CloudFest always brings together a diverse mix of folks from across the cloud ecosystem.
Our friends and partners at the ShapeBlue team were well represented with Giles Sirett, Ivet Petrova, and Marco Sinhoreli – all present at various sessions and networking events. After talking online for over a year, I FINALLY met Saurabh Rapatwar in person. These virtual-to-real connections are always interesting – putting a face and personality to someone you’ve only known through video calls and emails. We also connected with Virgil Truica, Rene-Emanuel Turcas, and many others from the cloud infrastructure community. First-time meetings included Patryk Szymulewski from Korbank and Diego Nijboer from Wisepim, whose insights on data infrastructure were refreshing, and Alexandru Tolgyi and his brilliant team from Zet.net.
The CloudFest Hackathon preceded the main event, bringing 110+ developers from 24 countries together. Led by Carole Olinger, they built impressive open source projects. The winning “Accessible Infographics” tool addressed a genuine need for better web accessibility. Other notable projects included “Peer-to-Peer Federated RAG Framework” and “Securing the Supply Chain for OSS.”
After hours
CloudFest nights are legendary, with a progression of themed parties:
Monday’s “Come2Gather in the Streets” featured the “Lords of Uptime” band – composed out of cloud industry veterans that were surprisingly good.
Tuesday brought the “Shamrock Shake Party” with Irish-themed festivities at Hotel Colosseo, just in time for St Patrick’s Day.
Wednesday’s “ConneXion Party” cranked up the volume with “arena rock coming at you full-force” according to the schedule. Yes, it lived up to the hype.
Thursday closed with “BierFest” – steins, sausages, and German beer bringing the event to a proper close.
The official parties ended at reasonable hours, but networking continued at the .Cloud Bar until early morning. This progression seemed deliberately designed – each night breaking down more professional barriers and building stronger connections.
Only at CloudFest
Some activities at CloudFest would be completely bizarre at normal professional events:
The World Server Throwing Championship had competitors literally throwing servers for distance and accuracy. Separate men’s and women’s tournaments took place over two days in a dedicated “Server Throwing Arena” in the VIP parking lot. This somehow makes perfect sense at CloudFest.
High-Ropes Speed Networking combined networking with adventure – participants exchanged contacts while navigating rope courses suspended above the exhibition hall. Apparently, shared fear builds stronger business relationships.
Actual boxing matches happened on the Ring Stage, which also hosted fast-paced sessions throughout the week. Nothing says “cloud computing conference” like a left hook, right?
Images credit: Cloudfest
These unconventional activities reinforce what makes CloudFest unique – the recognition that meaningful professional relationships form through shared experiences, not just slideshow presentations.
Looking ahead
CloudFest 2026 is scheduled for March 23-26 back at Europa-Park. The organizers also announced MSP GLOBAL for October 22-23 at PortAventura theme park in Barcelona, continuing their apparent love affair with rollercoasters.
The theme park formula clearly works for this community. In an industry increasingly dominated by virtual interactions, CloudFest proves the irreplaceable value of throwing people together in a physical space – preferably one with rollercoasters, beer, and flying servers.
Final thoughts
CloudFest captures something essential about the cloud industry – it’s serious business built on technology, but ultimately driven by human connections. From what I saw in the social media posts, CloudFest 2025 was a success by any measure. The combination of top-tier speakers, unique venue, unmatched networking opportunities, and memorable entertainment creates an experience that keeps the cloud community coming back year after year.
Now to start counting down to MSP GLOBAL in October…
