ADE Festival Still On Despite New COVID Restrictions

ADE Festival in Amsterdam will move forward despite the new set of COVID regulations the Dutch government announced earlier this month. The more stringent measures include new club, venue, and indoor event rules that force them to close between midnight and 6 am. ADE directors Meindert Kennis and Jan-Willem van de Ven see no reason why ADE shouldn’t move forward with a safe festival that follows the new guidance. They continue to work closely with city officials to ensure that events can move forward.

In a statement, van de Ven announced that a small number of ADE events will be forced to cancel. However, she went on to mention that, “plenty of organizers are still willing to go forward to have an amazing ADE Festival this year.”

ADE event organizers have worked tirelessly to push forward with the numerous parties that make up Amsterdam’s flagship dance music gathering. Co-director Kennis said that “We want to do everything we can to support them in their efforts to get the live industry moving again.”

The ADE Conference, however, will not move forward. The directors want to focus all their energy on ensuring the festival’s events can move forward in the best way possible. “The decision to postpone ADE Pro, for many music professionals the most important business moment in the year, was especially difficult in the time that the industry needs it the most,” said the directors.

Since its inception in 1996, ADE has been an important and influential event for the dance music community. Business deals are made, and relationships are solidified over the space of a week in October every year. The 2019 event included over 2500 artists and 600 speakers in nearly 200 venues across a city that is a worldwide hub of club culture. 

The program for this year’s event can be found on the Amsterdam Dance Event website.