Despite the Dutch government’s COVID-19 restrictions forcing clubs to close between 12:00 AM-6:00 AM, ADE 2021 ended up moving forward. Organizers simply adjusted event hours to take place during the day.

ADE Pro hosts numerous daytime conferences discussing the business of electronic music. Due to pandemic restrictions, the daytime conference was canceled back in September. Industry professionals still met up, however. ADE’s monthly talk show, ADE in Conversation, ran using VR technology.

Numerous professionals and DJs gathered in a mixed reality environment to discuss electronic music and the “Metaverse” (a term describing a new iteration of the Internet made up of shared 3D spaces). Audiences were able to all gather in the same space to watch the conversation unfold regardless of their physical location.

Starting in 1996 as a three-day conference along with DJ performances across three venues, Amsterdam Dance Event now spans 350+ events and brings in roughly 400,000 attendees each year. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, attendance this year was around 300,000.

Dutch national newspaper Volkskrant praised the event’s organizers. “Given the role that ADE fulfilled this year, it was perhaps the most important edition in its history,” they wrote.

With or without a ticket, electronic music enthusiasts across the globe will be able to enjoy performances by such superstars as Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin, Maceo Plex and Derrick May. Also included are panel talks, workshops, masterclasses and crossover appearances. Much of the conference, which will take place in a limited physical format, will surely be spent discussing the challenges and opportunities presented by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The ADE 2020 free virtual program is complete! Start exploring now… https://t.co/wZGb5K6U2x#ADE20 pic.twitter.com/g4xL8yXLlG

— AmsterdamDanceEvent (@ADE_NL) October 15, 2020

A Quarter Century of ADE

2020 will mark the 25th annual edition of ADE. The inaugural 1996 event took place across three days in Amsterdam theater Da Balie with 300 delegates and 30 DJs on the bill. In the years that followed, it grew to include 300 events showcasing 2,500 artists, drawing 400,000 attendees over five days.

For all of this year’s setbacks, the minds behind ADE are doing their best to look forward with confidence. “While the industry attempts to adapt to a challenging new chapter in its long and rich history, ADE is convinced that this is the time to be optimistic, positive and constructive, without losing sight of the current realities,” said ADE Co-Directors Meindert Kennis and Jan-Willem van de Ven in a joint statement.

Amsterdam Dance Event 2020 will take place from October 21st-25th. Find the full ADE Online program on their official website.

The “digital conference and social networking platform,” as they’ve billed it, appears to include an instant messaging client and post feed in addition to the keynote speeches and workshops typical of ADE. A Digital Pro Pass, which costs €75, grants a user access to the conference tracks as well as a year’s subscription to the social media service and a €50 discount on their 2021 ticket.

“While the industry attempts to adapt to a challenging new chapter in its long and rich history, ADE is convinced that this is the time to be optimistic, positive and constructive, without losing sight of the current realities,” said ADE Co-Directors Meindert Kennis and Jan-Willem van de Ven in a joint statement. “To this end, our conference program is dominated by emerging opportunities, solid, business-based reasons to be optimistic, strategies for coping with the psychology of a crisis, and constructive engagement with the challenges ahead.”

The 2020 edition of Amsterdam Dance Event will run from October 21st-25th. More information is available on the event website.