In pictures: A look at Amsterdam Dance Event 2024

Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) concluded two weeks ago and the five-day music festival and industry conference is sure to have seared countless images in the memories of those who attended.

Thankfully, for those who weren’t able to make it, photographers on the ground captured spectacular images that begin to reveal the scale and diversity of the annual happening.

With more than 1,000 events featuring more than 3,000 artists and 500 speakers in over 200 venues, no one journey through ADE this year was the same.

Despite being spread out across the city of Amsterdam, one particular building stands out as the festival’s intellectual home: the Felix Meritis. Named after the 18th Century enlightenment society responsible for its construction, the building endures as a hub for cultural exchange and is the site for the lion’s share of ADE conference talks and panels.

Among them, ‘The Future of Clubs and Venues’ stood out with its heated debate between promoters and agents who, despite inhabiting seemingly opposite ends of the industry, nevertheless came together to condemn rising costs and the lack of support for mid-level artists.

In collaboration with Electronic Music Conference (EMC), Mixmag Asia also held a panel during the festival. ‘Stewardship in the Global Club Culture Expansion: Navigating Growth, Legacy, and Local Identity’ featured a cross-section of industry voices from Australia, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore which were handpicked by EMC Director Jane Slingo.

These included Mixmag ANZ’s Jack Colquhoun, Club 77 founder Dane Gorrel, Mushroom Group’s Shelley Lui, Brighter Days founders Kamma and Masalo, Baloo of MDLBEAST, Blackout Agency head Zach Kim, and Mixmag Asia’s Music Culture Columnist Mengzy.

Among the key takeaways from the talk, which was held at community space Sexyland as part of the ‘Echoes of the Underground’ programme, was the importance for multinationals to embrace cultural relativism and respect historical nuance with the help of local stakeholders when entering new markets as well as the benefits regional Asian scenes can enjoy by learning from one another.

Amsterdam is staunch in its approach towards preserving architectural and cultural heritage. This means, in addition to buildings like the Felix Meritis, there are many more that participate in ADE which are steeped in history.

Former dairy factory The Melkweg, for example, has been in use as a cultural centre since 1973 and is capable of hosting simultaneous events across multiple stages, as Mixmag Asia discovered when it caught up with Dutch-Indonesian drum'n'bass MC Dan Stezo there during the North Quarter takeover of the venue’s more intimate upstairs room.

Even more intimate, were pop-up venues such as natural wine bar Chenin Chenin, which held a three-day programme of local selectors that played to punters spilling out into the street.

And, on the opposite end of the spectrum, were performances, such as those by Four Tet and Peggy Gou, that took place in front of thousands in impressive repurposed venues like the Gashouder (a former gasworks) and NDSM Warehouse (a former shipyard).

Next year’s edition, which will take place from October 22 to 26, promises to be a monumental one as it will coincide with the city of Amsterdam’s 750th anniversary.

Mengzy is Mixmag Asia’s Music Culture Columnist, follow her on Instagram.

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