Amsterdam Dance Event 2026: The Complete Guide to Dates, Lineup, Tickets and How to Plan

Amsterdam Dance Event 2026 runs from Wednesday 21 to Sunday 25 October, the 30th anniversary edition of the world's largest club festival and its leading electronic-music business conference. For five days the whole city becomes the venue, with 3,600-plus artists at more than 1,300 events across 300-plus venues and Jean-Michel Jarre installed as guest of honour. The thing to understand before you book anything is that ADE is two events wearing one badge: a daytime industry conference and a citywide nighttime festival running in parallel. This is the London clubber's and industry-goer's guide to which one you are actually going for, who is playing, what the tickets really cost, and how to plan a trip that does not fall apart by Friday.

Amsterdam Dance Event 2026 at a glance

• Dates: Wednesday 21 to Sunday 25 October 2026, five days.
• Milestone: the 30th anniversary edition, badged "30 YEARS ADE".
• What it is: a daytime conference and a citywide nighttime festival, held together every mid-October.
• Scale for 2026: 3,600-plus artists, 1,300-plus events and 300-plus venues, per ADE's 6 October announcement that the programme is complete.
• Guest of honour: Jean-Michel Jarre, who also delivers the official Opening Concert.
• Opening night: Jarre's concert at AFAS Live on Wednesday 21 October, presented by MOJO and Insomniac, sold out at the time of writing (mid October 2026).
• Conference ticket: the all-access ADE Pro Pass at €795 plus a 3.77% fee since 8 October, valid all five days; ADE's ticket page marks it almost sold out at the time of writing (mid October 2026).
• Festival tickets: sold separately per event by each festival organiser, through the event pages in the ADE programme.
• No day pass: ADE's ticket page offers no conference-only or single-day pass; the Pro Pass is the route into the conference.
• Lineup waves: a first wave on 30 June 2026 (350-plus artists according to ADE's news post; its press release said 250-plus), a second wave on 1 September 2026 that took the total past 1,500 artists and DJs, and the complete programme on 6 October.
• Saturday arena show: AMF at the Johan Cruijff ArenA on Saturday 24 October, 20:00 to 06:00 summer time, nine acts including David Guetta's Monolith Show; general admission sold out, VIP only at the time of writing (mid October 2026).
• Anchor venues: Gashouder at Westergas, Warehouse Elementenstraat, AFAS Live, the Johan Cruijff ArenA, Melkweg and Paradiso.
• Getting around: the Pro Pass bundles five days of free GVB tram, bus and metro travel, which tells you how spread out this is.
• Clocks and night buses: clocks go back at 03:00 on Sunday 25 October, and most GVB night buses do not run on Wednesday or Sunday night.

When is ADE 2026, and why the 30th anniversary matters

Amsterdam Dance Event 2026 takes place from Wednesday 21 October to Sunday 25 October. It follows the pattern it always has, opening on the Wednesday and running through to the Sunday afters, so the useful shorthand is a long weekend that starts on a school night. Book the Wednesday and Thursday off work and you get the quieter, more interesting end of the week before the crowds arrive.

This year is not a normal ADE. 2026 is the 30th anniversary, badged everywhere as "30 YEARS ADE", after organisers described 2025 as a record-breaking edition: ADE says it drew 600,000 visitors and 11,000 music professionals. It helps to know where this started. ADE was founded in 1996 as a three-day conference with around 300 attendees and roughly 30 performing DJs. Thirty years later it is the largest club festival in the world and the most important business conference the electronic music industry has, with a complete 2026 programme of 3,600-plus artists at 1,300-plus events across 300-plus venues, according to ADE's 6 October announcement. That is the arc the anniversary celebrates, from a small trade meeting to a five-day takeover of a capital city.

What Amsterdam Dance Event actually is

Here is the single thing newcomers get wrong, worth spelling out before you spend a penny. ADE is not "a festival" in the way Parklife or an Ibiza opening is. It is a five-day electronic music conference and festival held together, in parallel, run by the Amsterdam Dance Event Foundation. By day it is an industry conference: keynotes, panels, demo sessions, networking and label meetings. By night it is a citywide festival of club shows, more than 1,300 events across 300-plus venues. The two halves share a city and a calendar but almost nothing else, and which half you buy into changes the entire character of your trip.

The daytime conference is split into tracks, so you can point yourself at whatever end of the business you care about: ADE Pro is the main industry programme, ADE Green covers sustainability, ADE Startups covers new companies, and the Culture Hub takes the broader cultural conversation. The four-day conference programme runs at Felix Meritis and other official ADE venues. ADE Lab, the strand for the next generation of producers and performers, is separate and not included in the Pro Pass. For a working DJ, producer or label person, the daytime is frequently the real reason to go, and the club shows are the reward at the end of it.

The nighttime half is the part most people picture when they hear ADE, and it earned that reputation. ADE says the 2025 edition drew a record 600,000 visitors across the week, spread across more than 300 locations, which is why the event genuinely takes over the city rather than occupying one field on its edge. The event expanded from four days to five in 2012, because of the growing number of Sunday afters. The Saturday centrepiece is the Amsterdam Music Festival (AMF), ADE's arena show at the Johan Cruijff ArenA, which in 2026 runs on Saturday 24 October from 20:00 to 06:00 summer time (05:00 once the clocks go back) with nine acts, David Guetta's Monolith Show among them. At the time of writing (mid October 2026) general admission was sold out and only VIP tickets were left.

Conference or festival: which one are you going for?

This is the decision the listings sites will not make for you, so we will. Before you look at a single lineup, work out honestly which ADE you are attending, because the answer sets your budget.

• If you are in the industry: a DJ, producer, label, agent, promoter or manager. The Pro Pass is built for you. It is the only way into the conference, the panels, the matchmaking and the Business Hub, and it is where deals, bookings and introductions that pay for the trip actually happen.
• If you just want to club: you are a raver, not a delegate. You do not need the Pro Pass and almost certainly should not buy it. You buy tickets to the individual festival events you want and spend your money on the floor instead of the badge.
• If you are somewhere in between: an aspiring artist testing the water, say. Be honest about whether you will use the daytime. If you will sleep until 3pm and surface for the clubs, the conference pass is dead money.

The reason this matters is money. The €795 Pro Pass is not a general admission ticket, and the biggest first-timer mistake is treating it like one.

Who is playing ADE 2026?

ADE announced its first wave on 30 June 2026, more than 350 artists according to its news post (its press release said 250-plus), and a second wave on 1 September 2026 took the confirmed total past 1,500 artists and DJs, with Eric Prydz, Paul Kalkbrenner, Maceo Plex and Ben Klock among the additions. ADE declared the programme complete on 6 October, with 3,600-plus artists at 1,300-plus events. Treat the names here as a starting point, and check the official ADE programme and app for set times and late changes.

The confirmed first wave is deep and properly credible. It includes Avalon Emerson, Octo Octa, DJ Nobu, KI/KI, Folamour, DJ EZ, Freddy K, Jyoty, Ciara Cuvé, Amelie Lens, DJ BORING, FJAAK, Shanti Celeste, Job Jobse, Mochakk, Oppidan, The Martinez Brothers, Eris Drew, Chlär and Skin On Skin, among many more. The headliner-tier names flagged across the coverage include Jeff Mills, Nico Moreno, Amelie Lens and Adam Beyer with Drumcode, so the techno end of the week was deep before the second wave had even arrived.

Some marquee productions are confirmed too. Armin van Buuren and Benwal open ADE at the Gashouder on Wednesday 21 October, 23:00 to 06:00, after two sold-out shows of the Swan Lake Remixed for ADE ballet production there at 17:45 and 19:45. David Guetta brings his Monolith Show to AMF at the Johan Cruijff ArenA on Saturday 24 October. The Gashouder's ADE run continues on Thursday 22 October with two separate shows, Eric Prydz from 18:00 to 22:00 and I Hate Models and Nico Moreno Invite from 23:00, then Job Jobse and Mochakk Calling on Friday 23 October, Franky Rizardo Presents: Flow and Sammy Virji Curates (23:00 to 06:00) on Saturday 24 October, and a Josh Baker ADE closing on Sunday 25 October, 14:30 to 23:00, the kind of programming that turns one venue into a week-long destination. At the time of writing (mid October 2026) all of those Gashouder shows are sold out, with tickets only through the official Gashouder resale, except Eric Prydz, which was still on sale.

The anniversary headline: Jean-Michel Jarre

The centre of gravity for 2026 is Jean-Michel Jarre, announced back in March 2026 as the anniversary guest of honour, and he is not there as a legacy cameo. He delivers the official ADE Opening Concert at AFAS Live on Wednesday 21 October, 20:00 to 23:00 in the ADE programme, presented by MOJO and Insomniac, and AFAS Live lists it as sold out at the time of writing (mid October 2026). MOJO's provisional timetable puts support act Weval on at 19:40 and Jarre on stage from 21:00 to about 22:30. He also has three daytime sessions in the ADE programme: Music & Machines, a conversation with Armin van Buuren, JakoJako and Lady Starlight (Wednesday 21 October, 12:45, Rosewood Amsterdam); a panel on the positive use of AI in music creation with Jeff Chang of Google DeepMind and Joachim Garraud (Thursday 22 October, 15:45, Felix Meritis); and The Future has a History with Dasha Rush, hosted by Roland (Friday 23 October, 17:00, Het Ketelhuis, an ADE Lab session). The timing is deliberate: 2026 is the 30th anniversary of ADE and also the 50th anniversary of Jarre's landmark album Oxygène, released in 1976, so the opening show celebrates both.

In the official ADE announcement, Jarre framed the show as a live journey rather than a greatest-hits set. "Electronic music, as well as ADE, has a history, a legacy and a future," he said. "The live show at ADE is going to celebrate its 30th anniversary, but also the 50th anniversary of Oxygène. I have the ambition to keep the suspense and go from one track to another, into a different atmosphere."

The London and UK angle at ADE 2026

This is where an ADE guide written by a London collective earns its place, because plenty of "your" artists are on this bill. The biggest UK story is Skepta's Más Tiempo project, which returns to Warehouse Elementenstraat on Saturday 24 October, 23:00 to 06:00, after two sold-out ADE shows in 2025, the clearest sign yet of how far Skepta has pushed into house music.

The garage and bass end is well represented too. Sammy Virji is among the announced names and curates the Gashouder on Saturday 24 October from 23:00 to 06:00, which fits a year in which UK garage's leading names have toured Europe relentlessly. Prospa, MPH, Omar+ and Jyoty land in the first wave, and Josh Baker closes the Gashouder's ADE run on Sunday 25 October from 14:30 to 23:00, as well as appearing in the ADE Pro conference programme. Line them up next to Oppidan and the broader house contingent and you get a genuine slice of the British scene, part of the underground house wave that makes ADE feel less like a foreign trip and more like an away leg. It is the same story as the UK house pipeline that runs from London basements to the White Isle: the best British acts build their year around the European circuit, and ADE is its October anchor.

Tickets and passes: the Pro Pass versus individual festival tickets

There are two ways to pay for ADE, and confusing them is the fastest way to waste money. Get this section right and the rest of the planning is easy.

The ADE Pro Pass costs €795 plus a 3.77% fee since 8 October, is valid across all five days and is the only ticket into the conference, because ADE's ticket page offers no conference-only ticket or single-day pass. It also bundles the festival programme (with limited capacity at high-demand venues) and five days of free GVB public transport, and our verdict on whether the ADE Pro Pass 2026 is worth it weighs that up. At the time of writing (mid October 2026), ADE's ticket page marks the Pro Pass almost sold out.

The individual festival tickets are the other route, sold separately by each organiser through the event pages in the ADE programme, and for a pure clubber three or four of them will usually cost well under one €795 pass. Many of the biggest shows were already sold out at the time of writing (mid October 2026), so our ADE 2026 resale tickets guide lists what has gone and the safe official resale routes.

Key venues: where ADE 2026 actually happens

ADE is spread across the whole of Amsterdam, which is exactly why the Pro Pass throws in free transport. You will not walk it. A handful of anchor venues carry the biggest shows, and knowing them helps you plan the geography of your nights the way you would think about picking the right room on any clubbing week.

• Gashouder, Westergas: the signature ADE venue, a vast former gasworks on the Westergas site, running a pre-opening season before it formally opens at the end of October. It hosts Armin van Buuren and Benwal's ADE opening on 21 October and a nightly ADE run to Josh Baker's closing on 25 October, and it is the room most associated with the event's biggest nights.
• Warehouse Elementenstraat: the former peanut factory in Amsterdam West, hosting raves since 1992, which handles Skepta's Más Tiempo night on Saturday 24 October, a natural home for the harder, bassier end of the programme.
• AFAS Live: the large concert hall staging Jean-Michel Jarre's official Opening Concert on the Wednesday.
• Johan Cruijff ArenA: the stadium for AMF on Saturday 24 October, with David Guetta's Monolith Show among nine acts.
• Melkweg and Paradiso: the two central institutions, multi-room venues in the heart of the city that carry a huge share of the club programme.

Add the wider run of MOJO and STMPD shows and you have the shape of it: concert halls and arenas for the marquee productions, warehouses on the edges for the underground, and the historic city-centre clubs doing the heavy lifting every night in between.

How to plan your ADE 2026: a realistic two-to-five-day approach

With more than 1,300 events, the planning mistake is trying to see everything. You cannot. Accept that and the week gets far more enjoyable. Here is a realistic frame by how many nights you have.

• Two nights (Friday to Sunday): the classic short trip. Pick one marquee show and one warehouse or club night, keep a third slot loose for a smaller night that is still on sale, and use the Sunday for afters or a slow recovery.
• Three nights (Thursday to Sunday): the sweet spot. Thursday is quieter and easier to get into, so it is the night to gamble on something you do not know. Friday and Saturday are for the shows you most want, booked well in advance.
• The full five days (Wednesday to Sunday): really only worth it on a Pro Pass, or if you want the whole arc. Jarre's Wednesday opening at AFAS Live is sold out at the time of writing (mid October 2026), so plan the opening night around what is still on sale and how you will get home, pace yourself hard, and do not treat every night as a peak-time marathon or you will be finished by Saturday.

Whatever the length, the booking rule holds: lock your marquee club events early, because the biggest shows sell out before the week starts, and many already have. Build the trip around those fixed points rather than turning up and hoping.

First-timer tips for surviving five days

A few hard-won pointers the listings pages never bother with.

• Pace yourself. This is a five-day event, not a single big night. The people who last skip a night, sleep properly and choose their peaks. Treat it like a tour, not a bender.
• Use the official programme and app. With 1,300-plus events and set times still landing, the official ADE programme is the only reliable map. Build a shortlist in it rather than trusting any single guide, this one included.
• Plan the geography and do not chase everyone. Cluster your night around venues near each other, lean on the free GVB transport if you hold a Pro Pass, and pick fewer rooms to stay in rather than catching twenty names for twenty rushed minutes each.
• Watch the clock and the night buses. Clocks go back at 03:00 on Sunday 25 October, so the hour from 02:00 to 03:00 runs twice on Saturday night. Most GVB night buses run only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, so after Wednesday's opening shows and on Sunday night only the N85 and N87 to Zuidoost are running.

Getting there from the UK and where to base yourself

From London, Amsterdam is a short flight or a direct train away, so book early, because the closer to late October you leave it the more it costs, and our ADE from London guide covers Eurostar, the EES border checks, hotels and night transport. With events scattered across 300-plus venues, base yourself centrally near the Melkweg and Paradiso end of town rather than near any single venue, and lean on the free GVB transport if you hold a Pro Pass.

Is ADE 2026 worth it?

For anyone who takes electronic music seriously, the 30th anniversary edition is about as strong a reason to go as ADE has ever offered: a deep lineup now that the full programme has landed, the Jean-Michel Jarre framing giving the week a sense of occasion, and a density, more than 1,300 events in five days, that no other city delivers. The trick is going in knowing which ADE you are attending. Industry people want the Pro Pass; everyone else should spend the same money across the club shows they want and let the conference look after itself. Get that one decision right and the rest falls into place.

More ADE 2026 coverage

• ADE 2026 parties: the best parties, night by night.
• AMF 2026: line-up, times, tickets and getting home.
• ADE free events 2026: the free-tagged ADE listings, day by day.
• Awakenings ADE 2026: eight shows, set times and trains.
• ADE 2026 resale tickets: what is sold out and how to buy resale safely.
• ADE 2026 UK garage parties: UKG nights and the London brands in town.
• ADE Pro Pass 2026 worth it: the €795 pass, judged.
• ADE 2026 techno parties: the techno and hard techno nights.
• ADE from London: Eurostar, EES, hotels and night transport.

FAQ

When is Amsterdam Dance Event 2026?

ADE 2026 runs from Wednesday 21 October to Sunday 25 October 2026, five days in total. It is the 30th anniversary edition, badged "30 YEARS ADE", opening on the Wednesday and running through to the Sunday afters. A trip built around the Wednesday and Thursday catches the quieter front half of the week before the biggest crowds arrive on Friday and Saturday.

Why is ADE 2026 a big deal?

2026 is the 30th anniversary edition. ADE began in 1996 as a three-day conference of around 300 attendees and 30 DJs, and is now the world's largest club festival and its leading electronic-music business conference. The anniversary is headed by guest of honour Jean-Michel Jarre, whose Opening Concert also marks the 50th anniversary of his album Oxygène, released in 1976, giving the whole week a rare sense of occasion.

Is ADE a festival or a conference?

Both, running in parallel. By day ADE is an electronic music industry conference, split into tracks such as ADE Pro, ADE Green, ADE Startups and the Culture Hub. By night it is a citywide festival of more than 1,300 events across 300-plus venues. The two halves share a city and a calendar but serve different people, and understanding that dual identity is the single most important thing for a first-timer to grasp.

How much does an ADE ticket cost?

The all-access ADE Pro Pass has cost €795 plus a 3.77% fee since 8 October and is valid across all five days. ADE's ticket page offers no conference-only or single-day pass. Individual festival events are ticketed separately by their organisers, so if you are only there to club, a few event tickets will usually cost far less than the Pro Pass, which is aimed at industry attendees rather than casual ravers.

Do I need a Pro Pass to go to ADE?

No. If you only want to attend club events, you buy tickets to the individual festival shows you want and you do not need the Pro Pass at all. The €795 pass is built for industry attendees: it is the only route into the conference, panels, matchmaking and Business Hub, and it bundles the festival programme plus five days of free GVB public transport. For a pure clubber it is usually dead money.

Who is headlining ADE 2026?

Jean-Michel Jarre is the 2026 guest of honour and opens the event at AFAS Live on 21 October. The first wave, more than 350 artists according to ADE's news post, includes Amelie Lens, The Martinez Brothers, Avalon Emerson, Octo Octa, DJ Nobu, DJ EZ, Jeff Mills, Adam Beyer and Sammy Virji, and the second wave added Eric Prydz, Paul Kalkbrenner, Maceo Plex and Ben Klock. Armin van Buuren and Benwal at the Gashouder, David Guetta's Monolith Show at AMF and Skepta's Más Tiempo are among the confirmed productions.

Is the ADE 2026 lineup fully announced?

Yes. ADE declared the programme complete on 6 October 2026, with 3,600-plus artists at 1,300-plus events across 300-plus venues. Before that, the first wave landed on 30 June 2026 (350-plus artists according to ADE's news post; its press release said 250-plus) and the second wave on 1 September took the total past 1,500 artists and DJs. Set times and late changes still land, so check the official ADE programme and app before you go.

Where does ADE take place?

Across the whole of Amsterdam. Anchor venues include the Gashouder at Westergas, Warehouse Elementenstraat, AFAS Live, the Johan Cruijff ArenA, and the central institutions Melkweg and Paradiso, plus a wider run of MOJO and STMPD shows. Because it is genuinely citywide, the Pro Pass bundles free GVB tram, bus and metro travel, and basing yourself centrally and travelling outward beats staying near any single venue.

How should I plan ADE if it is my first time?

Decide first whether you are attending the conference or the festival, because that sets your budget. Book your marquee club events early, since the biggest shows sell out before the week starts. Use the official ADE programme and app to build a realistic shortlist, cluster your nights by geography, and do not try to see everyone. With more than 1,300 events in five days, pacing yourself matters more than any single booking.

Is there a UK angle at ADE 2026?

Yes, a strong one. Skepta brings Más Tiempo back to Warehouse Elementenstraat on Saturday 24 October, and UK acts including Sammy Virji, Prospa, MPH, Omar+ and Josh Baker are among the announced names, with Sammy Virji Curates at the Gashouder on Saturday 24 October and Josh Baker's ADE closing there on Sunday 25 October. It reflects how far the British house and garage scene now travels, with the best UK acts building their year around the European circuit that ADE anchors every October.

Sources

• Amsterdam Dance Event: tickets page (Pro Pass at €795 plus 3.77% fee, inclusions; marked almost sold out on 15 October 2026); programme complete release and news post (6 October 2026: 3,600-plus artists, 1,300-plus events, 300-plus venues; price rise that Thursday); About ADE (2025 record of 600,000 visitors and 11,000 professionals); first wave news post (350-plus artists) and first wave press release (250-plus artists), 30 June 2026; second wave announcement (1 September 2026); Jean-Michel Jarre guest of honour announcement (9 March 2026); AMF 2026 announcement (23 March 2026); Swan Lake Remixed announcement (18 August 2026); Skepta Presents: Mas Tiempo event page; programme pages for the Gashouder events, both Swan Lake Remixed shows, the Jarre concert and his three sessions (Music & Machines, AI panel, The Future has a History), used for all local start and end times.
• Gashouder: ADE pre-opening programme, 21 to 25 October 2026 (sold-out and resale status; its tiles show UTC, so times here follow the ADE programme); directions page (N81 and N88 night buses, listed for Friday to Sunday, meaning the early hours after Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights).
• AFAS Live: Jean-Michel Jarre (sold out, checked 15 October 2026).
• MOJO: Jean-Michel Jarre at AFAS Live (presenters; provisional timetable with Weval at 19:40 and Jarre from 21:00 to 22:30).
• AMF: FAQ (20:00 to 06:00 summer time, 05:00 standard time), tickets (GA and VIP Premium sold out, VIP only) and line-up (nine acts).
• Rijksoverheid: clock change (back one hour at 03:00 on Sunday 25 October 2026).
• Dutch national public transport timetable (GTFS): gtfs.ovapi.nl (eight of GVB's ten night buses run only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights; N85 and N87 run every night).
• Wikipedia: Amsterdam Dance Event (1996 founding, 300 delegates and 30 DJs, five days from 2012).

Facts in this piece were checked in October 2026. If something has moved since, that is the nature of a living scene.