The Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) is the world’s leading electronic music conference and the biggest club festival for the many electronic sub-genres on the planet. The event takes place in late October offering a full program of daytime conferences – including interactive workshops, mentoring sessions, technical demonstrations and in-depth, round-table discussions – alongside a nighttime music festival featuring more than 200 events over five days. Each year, the ADE attracts over 3,000 business professionals and 140,000 festival visitors – including 25,000 tourists – from 62 countries. The event is organized by the Amsterdam Dance Event Foundation, part of Buma Cultuur, and, alongside its global role, ADE actively a promotes Dutch artists and music to the global community.
Started in 1996 and attended by 300 delegates with thirty DJs performing, the ADE was initially based in De Balie for the daytime conference, and at night featured shows in three venues: Paradiso, Melkweg and Club Escape. Since then, the ADE has grown from a three-day event largely focused on dance music into a platform for every kind of electronic music. The event kicks off on Wednesday with ADE Playground and ADE University, the Music & Bits conference program, as well as a full daytime conference program at the Felix Meritis and the Dylan Hotel, plus the legendary DJ Cook-Off, which was won by Seth Troxler in 2011. On top of that, ADE also now includes the awards ceremony of the prestigious DJ Mag Top 100 DJs Poll on Thursday evening.
ADE also opens its doors to non-professional musicians on Saturday with ADE Next, where aspiring artists and producers are invited to meet the pros face to face, and get expert opinions on their work from some of the world’s most popular and in-demand artists, DJs and producers. In 2012 it was announced that the event would officially go from four to five days due to the rapidly growing number of ‘afters’ events on the Sunday
With a daytime program based around the Felix Meritis Centre and the Dylan Hotel (both on the famous Keizersgracht), plus Music & Bits at De Balie in the Leidseplein, ADE University for aspiring music industry professionals, Playground for tech start-ups, ADE Next for new talent, and the Hard Dance Event (HDE) for harder styles of electronic music, the ADE has gained a reputation for being an event where every imaginable style of electronic music is represented.
Thanks to the abundant presence of artists, DJs, managers, the media, labels, publishers and producers, the volume of deals done and connections made is one of the most remarkable aspects of the ADE’s daytime activities. The addition of ADE University and Playground in 2011, plus the expansion of Music & Bits into a stand-alone, three-day event, have created an all-embracing forum that covers every aspect of the electronic music scene, offering something for everyone from up-and-coming musicians and producers, technology developers, and students, through to the most seasoned professionals.
Festival
The festival boosts close to 300 events over five days in 75 venues around the city and features the very biggest DJ and artist names on the planet as well as a selection of the best upcoming talent making Amsterdam one of the very best and most inspiring clubbing cities in the world. Each year, the ADE attracts 200,000 festival visitors, including 40,000 tourists.
Playground
The ADE vibe now also spreads to a range of locations during daytime at the brand new ADE Playground, which aims to become the largest pop-up shop in the world! Festival visitors can now take part in a range of special events at all kinds of creative hotspots dotted around the city. Roof top terraces, clothing shops, cinema’s or even a container right in the middle of the town!
Conference
The event also offers a full program of daytime conferences, making the ADE the ultimate platform for critical dialogue and debate in the field of electronic music. The conferences include ADE Pro in the Felix Meritis and the Dylan Hotel, the Hard Dance Event (HDE) focusing on the harder styles in dance music, ADE Next for aspiring producers and musicians and ADE University for students who want to learn about the realities of working in the entertainment industry from experts and mentors.
Sub Events
ADE’s conference activities also include the cutting-edge technology forum Music and Bits as well as the Tech Lounge start-up zone, both taking place in the De Balie. New this year is an association with Beamlab in Pakhuis de Zwijger on Wednesday, offering a dedicated conference featuring the very best audiovisual designers and live staging experts. All together they provide an extensive and all-embracing platform to do business, exchange knowledge and keep up to date on the latest developments and trends.
DJ Mag Top 100
Last but certainly not least, the ADE also hosts the annual awards ceremony of the prestigious DJ Mag Top 100 DJs Poll on Friday evening in the Convention Factory.
See you in Amsterdam!
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