AMSTERDAM DANCE EVENT 2026
your guide to:
LAST UPDATED: JULY 2026
WHAT IS ADE?
Every October, just as summer draws to a close, one of the world's biggest gatherings for electronic music lands in Amsterdam.
Over five days (21st-25th), Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) welcomes more than 400,000 visitors, bringing together the industry's biggest DJs, labels, promoters, collectives, artists, and innovators to celebrate electronic music and shape its future.
ADE is split into three key pillars:
ADE Pro
Conferences, panel talks, demonstrations, and networking events designed to encourage collaboration and drive the industry forward.
ADE Lab & Arts
Educational workshops, masterclasses, and art exhibitions that pushes emerging talent while also celebrating the existing creativity and culture surrounding electronic music.
ADE Festival
Five days and nights of nonstop events across the city, turning Amsterdam into the world's largest electronic music festival
Together, these three pillars come together to make ADE so much more than just a festival.
ade festival
The best thing about ADE festival?
has to be the Festival and the fact it's one of the only places in the world where you can catch all of your favourite DJs in the same place, all within the space of five days.
From Wednesday through to Sunday, it just doesn’t stop, and with events running at every hour of the day, you can literally go from one event to the next and the next, if you've got the stamina!
But ADE isn't just about ticking your favourite artists off the list. It's also about discovery.
Some of the best events take place in smaller venues. So if you are planning on doing the full five days, we’d definitely recommend setting aside at least one day to find a new DJ, discover a label with a sound that’s completely new to you, or explore a genre outside of your usual rotation. We’ve noted a few of our favourites in our ADE calendar below.
The worst thing about ADE festival?
You can't do it all. With thousands of events taking place across the city and many of the biggest parties happening at the same time, narrowing down where to go can be the hardest part. That's where a little planning comes in.
That’s why we've put together a calendar, featuring some of our favourite ADE picks and also some events that don’t show up on the official ADE calendar, so take a look but check the timings and plan carefully! And if you're looking for even more, simply search "(ADE)" in our House Music Calendar for tickets and event listings.
ADE can be a lot to take in. So we've hand-picked some of our favourite events and put them all in one calendar.