About ADE

Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) is the most upfront, influential and educational gathering for electronic music and its industry. With its conference, festival and educational breeding ground, ADE is able to create not only the biggest yearly industry tent-pole moment, but also a solid foundation for future generations of electronic music professionals and upcoming artists. The event attracts a total of more than 1,000 events in nearly 200 locations across its multidisciplinary program; for five days and nights, the city of Amsterdam truly breathes electronic music.

With its activities, the ADE Foundation not only functions as an incubator for the professional industry through exchange and innovation, it also curates cultural crossovers and supports upcoming artists making their next steps in the creative industry.

ADE is organised by the Amsterdam Dance Event Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing and elevating electronic music, its culture and its industry worldwide. The organization devotes itself to stimulating development, innovation and talent, gathering the global industry and laying a foundation for future generations.

The ADE Foundation is a small and agile organization, consisting of 6 staff members and over 40 freelancers. We highly value safety and inclusion in our workplace as well in all our collaborations and programs, which are based on a code of conduct. To support upcoming artists and professionals, we work with an independent festival committee.

ADE would not be able to exist without its benefactors, sponsors and partners. With our great variety of activities, in which we highly value art, sharing of knowledge and mentorship – we could never break even without extra funding.

ADE: Conference & Festival

The Amsterdam Dance Event has grown from a small music conference in 1996 to the biggest electronical music event worldwide. The heart of the programme still is the ADE Conference, which is roughly to be divided in ADE Pro (for the professional in dance culture) and ADE LAB (for the upcoming artist and your professional). Within the conference program there are various topics and sub conferences, covering a wide array of topics such as sustainability, technological developments, programs for start-ups, mentoring programs for young talents and programs devoted to safety or self expression.

ADE Festival consists of all the music events (over 1000 yearly) organized by more than 200 clubs and cultural institutions. This means the Foundation does not organise the individual events itself but rather invites external events to join the yearly festival. Every year ADE is hosted by very established as well as unknown and surprising locations, covering not only every part of the city, but a great variety of electronical music as well. The festival also includes our disciplinary crossovers curated by our Arts & Culture program.

ADE PRO
ADE Pro invites thousands of electronic music professionals to gain knowledge, network and get inspired in their scene. The focus of the conference is on digital innovation, connecting industry captains with start-ups and sharing knowledge on the challenges that the sector faces; such as sustainability, safety and accessibility.

ADE LAB
ADE Lab is the platform where young aspiring artists, producers, and professionals gathered to learn from world-class artists and industry brands. The focus within Lab is on passing on knowledge and giving-back; supporting the next generation and providing a kick-start in the industry. shesaid.so has been working with ADE since 2017 with a focus on programming around diversity and inclusion in the music industry, by organising mentoring programs and curate talks.

ADE Festival
ADE Festival showcases the full spectrum of electronic subgenres in Amsterdam's finest nightlife spaces and is organised by the individual event organisations. Evolving and every year to keep it’s leading position, it holds Amsterdam on the map in the creative music industries worldwide.

ADE Arts & Culture
Withint the Arts & Culture program ADE curates crossovers between electronic music and other genres, such as performing and visual arts, but co-creation with Artificial Intelligence as well. By connecting with various art forms and museum locations, unforgettable collaborations have taken place among which Ryoii Ikeda, Jeff Mills and Youssou n'Dour were represented.

Within ADE PRO we host the ultimate business and inspiration gathering for the global electronic music industry. Starting in 2023 a special ‘business hub’ will be created in the Andaz hotel, providing a specially focused exchange location for the industry.

For the upcoming artist we not only provide mentoring and inspirational sessions within ADE LAB, since 2022 we also created a special Festival Fund where financial support (1000 euro per event) can be applied for small-scale events, selected by our independent festival committee. The applications are judged on their urgency, innovation, diversity and (local) talent development. The committee is formed by Kim Tuin (director of het Hem), Manique Hendrix (curator), Shamiro van der Geld (creator and former night mayor), Bianca Latupapua (DJ), and Ilyas Fdis (booker).

Within the curated programs and cultural crossovers, there is a strong focus on upcoming local talent as well.

Breaking barriers
Accessibility to events and dancefloors is not obvious for everyone. That’s why ADE teams up with organizations who are able to break these barriers. Music Moves for example, a partner of Ade since several years, who helps facilitate events for groups with special needs, or at specific venues such as homeless or refugee centers.

With its variety of subconferences, programs, collaborations and events, ADE generates a great social, economical as well as cultural impact.