Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) 2026

Amsterdam Dance Event, known to almost everyone simply as ADE, takes over the Dutch capital with five days and nights of electronic music each October. The 2026 edition runs from Wednesday 21 to Sunday 25 October, and it is a milestone: the organisation is billing it as 30 years of ADE, three decades on from the first edition in 1996.

There is no single festival terrain and no wristband. The night programme is spread across hundreds of venues and every festival event is ticketed separately, while the daytime conference has its own pass and its own addresses on the canals.

Four days of conference, five days of festival

This is the detail most listings get wrong, and it decides which ticket you need. The ADE Festival runs all five days, Wednesday 21 to Sunday 25 October. The ADE Pro conference runs four, Wednesday through Saturday, and closes before the festival’s final night.

The ADE Pro Pass is nonetheless described by the organisation as valid for all five days, because it carries festival and networking access beyond the conference itself. So if you are coming for the conference, Sunday is a festival day only.

What runs when

1. Wed 21 to Sun 25 Oct
   ADE FestivalMore than 1,200 events across roughly 300 venues, all over Amsterdam. Club nights, concerts and label showcases.Ticketed per event
2. Wed 21 to Sun 25 Oct
   ADE Arts and CultureThe cultural strand alongside the club programme: exhibitions, film, talks and installations.
3. Wed 21 to Sat 24 Oct
   ADE Pro conferenceThe industry conference, at Felix Meritis, Keizersgracht 324. Conference tracks, panels and keynotes for the electronic music business.ADE Pro Pass
4. Wed 21 to Sat 24 Oct
   ADE Business HubAndaz Hotel, Keizersgracht 440.ADE Pro Pass
5. Wed 21 to Sat 24 Oct
   ADE Pro and Matchmaking HubRosewood Amsterdam, Prinsengracht 432 to 436. Where the scheduled one-to-one meetings happen.ADE Pro Pass
6. Within the conference days
   ADE Lab On TrackThree full days of classes, coaching and collaboration for emerging artists and professionals. Places are awarded by application, not sold.Apply in advance
7. Within the conference days
   ADE Green and ADE Culture HubConference sections on sustainability in the music industry and on the culture around it.ADE Pro Pass

As of early September 2026 the organisation says roughly 70 percent of the ADE Pro programme for the anniversary edition has been announced, so individual sessions and speakers are still being added. The full per event listing, which is far too large to reproduce anywhere but the source, lives on the official programme pages and in the ADE app.

Where the conference actually happens

The festival has no centre, but the conference does, and it is walkable. All three professional locations sit on the canal ring within about ten minutes of each other:

• Felix Meritis, Keizersgracht 324: the ADE Pro programme and the event’s long standing home base.
• Andaz Hotel, Keizersgracht 440: the ADE Business Hub.
• Rosewood Amsterdam, Prinsengracht 432 to 436: the ADE Pro and Matchmaking Hub.

Tickets and how they work

Ticketing follows the split, so there are two routes in and they are not interchangeable.

Festival events are sold individually, by the promoters running each night rather than by ADE. They can be found through the event pages in the official programme list.

The ADE Pro Pass is the conference ticket. It covers full conference access, entry to the festival programme with limited capacity at high demand venues, networking and the business hubs, the online database and year round access to it, free GVB public transport for five days, a VIP deck at selected events, and the anniversary edition ADE bag. It can be paid in three instalments through Klarna in the EU or PayPal in the US.

One caution on price. The pass is sold in rising tiers, and the ticket page carried a “rates go up tonight” notice when this page was last checked, with the pass then listed at 675 euros plus a percentage fee. Treat that as the figure on the day rather than a fixed price, and check the official ticket page before budgeting. A separate ADE Lab pass has been listed as coming soon.

Thirty years

ADE started in 1996 and is organised by the Amsterdam Dance Event Foundation, a non-profit of six staff and more than 70 freelancers. Its stated mission is to programme and curate what it calls the world’s most influential club festival and conference in electronic music.

The scale is the part that surprises people. The foundation counted a record 600,000 visitors at the 2025 edition, across more than 1,200 events in nearly 300 locations with 3,500 artists. For the anniversary year it has been running a series on the venues that shaped the event, with the Gashouder among them.

The organisation is also explicit about the culture it serves. It describes dance music as having originated partly as protest against the mainstream, against social injustice and oppression, and as a space to celebrate black, queer and trans culture; its code of conduct points to the historical and continuing influence of POC and LGBTQ+ communities. BumaStemra is ADE’s founding partner and Heineken its main partner.

Common questions

When is ADE 2026?
Wednesday 21 to Sunday 25 October 2026, across Amsterdam.

Is the conference the same length as the festival?
No, and this catches people out. The festival runs all five days. The ADE Pro conference runs four, Wednesday to Saturday. Sunday is a festival day only.

Is there one ticket for the whole festival?
No. Festival events are ticketed individually by the promoters of each night. The ADE Pro Pass bundles the conference with festival access, but capacity at high demand venues is limited even with a pass.

How much does the ADE Pro Pass cost?
It was listed at 675 euros plus a fee when this page was last checked, and it is sold in rising tiers, so check the official ticket page for the current rate. It can be paid in three instalments.

Where does the conference take place?
At three locations on the canal ring: Felix Meritis at Keizersgracht 324 for the ADE Pro programme, the Andaz Hotel at Keizersgracht 440 for the Business Hub, and Rosewood Amsterdam at Prinsengracht 432 to 436 for matchmaking.

Where does the festival take place?
Everywhere in Amsterdam rather than on one site. The foundation counts nearly 300 locations, from large halls such as the Gashouder to small clubs across the city.

Can I get into ADE Lab?
ADE Lab On Track runs for three full days and is application based rather than sold, so it has to be arranged in advance through ADE.