Amsterdam Dance Event kicks off today for first time in 2 years

The Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) is happening in Amsterdam from Wednesday until October 17. With the current coronavirus restrictions set only a month ago, ADE directors Jan-Willem van de Ven and Meindert Kennis had to work hard, but they are proud of the results. "The sector was very resilient and got the best out of it," Kennis said.

"During the preparations, we noticed that the artists were really eager to get back to work. Many people really waited until we, or [Prime Minister Mark] Rutte, decided whether ADE could happen," Van de Ven said. "We want as many people as possible to come together and get the industry going again."

Over the past period, the ADE organizers had to go back to the drawing board again and again as the coronavirus restrictions changed. "We've gone from total opening to total cancellation. All possible scenarios went past. And we had to 'kill' some of our 'darlings' because at the time we had to make a decision there were still a lot of travel restrictions," said Kennis about, for example, the conference and the Amsterdam Music Festival, which are canceled this year.

Due to coronavirus restrictions, the ADE looks slightly different from other years. Only 75 percent of the maximum number of visitors are welcome at indoor events, people have to show a coronavirus access pass, and the parties are only between 6:00 a.m. and midnight. According to an ADE spokesperson, this last restriction was particularly challenging, as permits had to be converted from night to day. The organizers also had to adjust their schedule because the change in times has consequences for the artists' logistics, the events' construction, and staff deployment.

Some 2,000 artists, including Oliver Heldens and Dave Clarke, will perform at 350 events. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world flock to Amsterdam to attend the event. Except for last year, when the event was completely digital due to the pandemic. 

The annual DJ Mag Top 1000 will be announced on Wednesday evening in the AFAS Live. Usually, the list of most popular DJs is announced during the Amsterdam Music Festival (AMF) in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. But organizer ALDA canceled the event for this year due to the coronavirus restrictions. Last year, David Guetta was named number one on the list for the second time.

"With the corona restrictions in force, a large-scale international event like the AMF in its original form is not feasible," said Allan Hardenberg, director of ALDA. "I am proud that we could realize an alternative award show together with the DJ Mag team in a relatively short time." During the alternative award show, sets by Armin van Buuren, Don Diablo, and Afrojack, among others, will be played. A select audience will attend, but the show can also be followed via live stream. Last year it attracted about 7 million viewers worldwide.