To cancel or not to cancel?

To cancel, or not to cancel?

Cancellation of bookings in times of activism and polarisation.

Moderator: Niloufar Nematollahi
Maartje Weijers (Table For Ten)
Justin Blikman (PAX-ROMANA)
Fulco Blokhuis (Boekx Advocaten)

We invite music lovers, artist and professionals in the music industry, to the expert session ‘Cancellation of bookings in voltile times’ during Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), as part of the ADE Friends X 750 program. A conversation about the considerations and legal framework behind the decisions to cancel bookings (or not) due to unethical involvement, activism and controversy while the world is on fire.

The panel is hosted by A Lab and curated by Plus One Legal.‍

Topics to be discussed:

- Which considerations do play a role in the decision of artists to cancel their bookings (or not)?
- How to deal with (possible) cancellations of bookings and (possible) backlash of communities as event promotor or venue?
- Why do independent event promotors need to introduce sustainable business principles to survive?
- Which arguments can be used within the legal framework of such (possible) cancellation of bookings?

Niloufar Nematollahi
Born in Esfahan and raised between Iran and Belgium, Niloufar is a writer and organiser whose practice alternates between dance floors, white cubes, archives, oil fields, and barricades. She has predominantly written on Palestinian solidarity in the Netherlands as well as the political imaginary of prominent labor insurrections in Iran and the broader region. Mainly through interviewing DJs, musicians, ravers, and party-organisers not only in Tehran but also the Iranian diaspora, Niloufar has also conducted extensive research on the politics of Tehran’s growing electronic dance music scene. Niloufar co-founded KAVIR, a collective that brought together experimental visual artists and musicians from Iran and Belgium, and ASHOOB, a party collective foregrounding revolutionary sounds from the margins.

Maartje Weijers
Maartje Weijers (1987) has been active in the events and creative industry for 15 years. With a background in club marketing (including AIR Amsterdam and Club Nyx) and advertising (Boomerang Agency), she founded the brand activation agency Table For Ten in 2021 together with Marieke Samallo. She has also been involved with Milkshake Festival as a strategist, business manager, and, in the 2025 season, as a crisis spokesperson.

Fulco Blokhuis
Fulco Blokhuis (1975) was appointed partner at Boekx in 2010. He specialises in media law and intellectual property. Fulco’s heart thrives incomplex court proceedings at the intersection of technology and intellectual property. A number of these proceedings have led to ground-breaking court rulings. Developing strategies in the run-up to such proceedings, or developing strategies to prevent hem, is another of Fulco’s qualities as a go-to boardroom advisor.