ADE ’26 closes its 30th edition with 3,600 artists and 600,000 visitors

Amsterdam Dance Event celebrated its 30th anniversary this year with its biggest lineup yet: more than 3,600 artists, over 1,300 events and 300 venues across five days, Oct. 21-25. Organizers put attendance at around 600,000 visitors, DJ Life reported.

The program ran from small club nights to arena shows, with gear displays and industry workshops in between. The conference side kept returning to the same few topics: AI, social-media representation, artist identity and branding, and how authenticity and storytelling help artists stand out in a more crowded market.

Club nights and the arena

The club program opened on Oct. 21 with a Prison Rave at Levenslang, curated by D’Angello & Francis. The single-room club sits in the former boiler room of the Bijlmerbajes prison. Scottish hard-dance DJ Hannah Laing moved between trance and hard bounce, from her “Lethal Industry” remix to “Rewind,” her collaboration with The Rocketman. Bassjackers followed with a heavier, techno-leaning set.

The same night at Club Baggerbeest, Analog Kitchen showed how techno gets made without a conventional DJ setup: drum machines, sequencers and samplers only. Engineer and immersive audio specialist Attie Bauw and guitarist Eran Hareven joined in. The hardware approach went beyond standard stereo, with individual sounds and instruments moving around the room during the performance.

On Friday, Mochakk brought his Mochakk Calling series to Gashouder, a former gas-storage tank in its pre-opening season. The 27-year-old Brazilian played a sold-out set built on a steady bassline and groove, shifting within his Brazilian house sound. His take on “Fine Day Anthem” had phones up across the room.

The evening program ended at the Amsterdam Music Festival, an arena show with big-room house, melodic techno and trance before a hardstyle finale. Armin van Buuren returned, playing with his frequent collaborator and co-vocalist SACHA and guitarist Douwe Bob. David Guetta brought his Monolith show, with aerial acrobats above the crowd, then played a B2B with Marlon Hoffstadt to mark their recent release “Caught Up.” Hoffstadt, nicknamed “Daddy Trance,” played “Makina Time,” his collaboration with Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike. Amelie Lens, six months pregnant, closed out her tour season with a set of her own. AMF’s production was bigger than before, with more pyrotechnics and fireworks than previous editions.

ADE Lab Discovery, at Het Ketelhuis in the Cultural Park Westergas, let producers and DJs test new hardware and setups. Exhibitors included AlphaTheta, Roland, Technics, KORG, Arturia, Yamaha, Reloop, Hercules, Ecler, Audeze and AIAIAI, among others.

The AI roundtable

On Oct. 23 at Felix Meritis, “Artists on AI, A No-BS Roundtable” put Mathame’s Matteo Giovanelli, BT, Portrait XO, Dave Clarke and Miss Kittin on one stage to argue over machine learning in music.

Portrait XO said using artists’ work without consent goes beyond copyright and is a matter of fundamental human rights. She called for systemic changes and better incentives to protect creators, and warned that “artists are currently used as accessories, ‘flashy new things,’ which gives more space to further exploitation.”

BT took a different line. “Everybody is their own dataset and it has a value,” he said, arguing that an artist’s work and creative identity can inform AI tools without replacing the human. Clarke separated his interest in machines and sound engineering from the current AI debate. Miss Kittin said she does not want machine-learning applications to “think like her” and prefers tools that challenge her process. She called experimenting with AI “playing with fire,” and added: “Kids need to learn self-esteem to encounter their weirdness. Any tools, techniques or technology will cultivate your difference.”

Female DJs in Brazil

The same day at Felix Meritis, the panel “Female DJs in Brazil: Breaking Beats, Breaking Barriers” covered sexism, racism, safety and unequal treatment in bookings. Speakers were Brazilian DJs DJ Ray, Galecta and LUA.

LUA said male DJs often travel with just a booker and a manager, while women often need a larger team for protection, which adds cost and logistics. Galecta said she walked away from a major slot after the headliner took almost the entire fee, even though she was pulling a significant crowd of her own. DJ Ray said Brazilian women DJs are frequently booked for their appearance rather than their sound, and face double standards over music that male DJs get away with. “There’s always very sexual vocals in male DJs sets, but if we play it… and women are judged if we play the same track with the same vocals,” she said.

Galecta added that speaking out can be easier in Europe, where artists may find more support.

The next ADE runs Oct. 20-24, 2027.