Head downtown and find out what’s happening in Amsterdam’s city centre

This year's ADE features almost 200 venues - all spread across Amsterdam - playing host to different festival and conference events throughout the week. Now we have come to the beehive of Amsterdam; the city centre.


From ADE LIVE and African-Carribean Music to Techno
Let's start at De Melkweg; a pop venue and cultural centre with live music, club nights, art and film events, located at the Leidseplein. No less than thirty events (yes thirty) will be held during day- and nighttime, among which, the opening concert by Sohn and The Metropole Orkest. Melkweg joins forces for the fourth year with Paradiso for ADE LIVE, featuring Apparat, Catching Flies, Tourist and many more on Thursday.

During daytime, visitors can catch several movies and documentaries at the Melkweg Cinema as they will screen 30 Years Dutch Dance and Berlin Bouncer (2019), among others. Expand your cinematic experience during the preview of Playtime (1967) where Peaking Lights are playing a live score.

Exit the Melkweg and head left. After a five minute walk, you will find an exotic place to dance, located at the waterside, called Waterkant (Dutch for waterside). Expect a colorful oasis of Afro-Caribbean music as KD Soundsystem & Friends take you on a musical journey through West-Africa and the Caribbean. The venue also plays host to a Shesaid.so x ADE Lunch and Colorful, where it will be all about connecting. Walking a bit further to the Lauriergracht check out The Consious Club for a talk about the universal power of sound, meditation, yoga and live music.

Find Paradiso, a former church just around the corner of Leidseplein. The venue has been a part of ADE since it all started and this year they are set to host 15 nighttime events, including ADE LIVE featuring De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig, Larry Gus, Warhola, and many others on Wednesday. More on the bill are DJ Ez, Giegling, Hayden James, Nick Murphy and Tchami & Malaa to name just a few.

ADE PRO Conference
A stones throw away the main ADE conference hub is housed in DeLaMar Theater, where you can enjoy inspiring talks, keynotes, panels and workshops of speakers like GAIA, Hannah Wants, Sam Feldt and many many more.

Asian, French & Berlin vibes
In the same area you can find the Chicago Social Club, where The Toolroom family is kicking off the week on Wednesday. Parquet has invited D-Nox & Beckers and Gabriel Ananda to take over Thursday night with tech-house. Enjoy a minimal-tech version on Friday as Berlin-based Keinemusik will take over the club with &ME, Adam Port, Rampa and Reznik. If you are into afro-beats then stay, because Girls Girls Girls is up for Saturday with some dancehall tunes.

Enter the Korte Leidsedwarstraat and there you can find Jimmy Woo, NOVA and Suzy wong. Its signature look, originates from Jimmy Woo’s personal view of the world, from South Africa, Italy, Asia, and LA to the Belgian brasseries and nightclubs in the sixties to eighties. The heavy steel doors next to Jimmy Woo houses club NOVA. Cocktail lounge Suzy Wong will take you into the world of modern American, with oriental and classic French elements. All these clubs have invited a large variety of international artists such as Carnage, Chocolate Puma, Justin Mylo, Nelson Dior, Yung Felix, and many others.

Find Club Up on the other end of the Korte Leidsedwarstraat, which offers a wide range of genres and eclectic evenings from Wednesday til Saturday. They will host De Microclub, a club evening from 8 PM to 0.30 AM for 23+ with funky and uplifting house music. You can stay if you want to, because Music High Court and Run The Trap will take over afterwards.

Just around the corner of Leidseplein the ADE Guesthouse is situated at De Balie. Visitors will be able to dive into the conference events and meet vital industry players from leading regions with on Wednesday House of China, on Thursday French Electronic Lab and closing off on Friday with Asia Konnekt. Besides the conference events, De Balie will also house nighttime events hosted by 3NTRY China and Steve Aoki's Dim Mak. On top of all this, Elysian Records will team up with Magic Music. Very close to de Balie you can find Cafe in the City where Roger Sanchez is set to host his Intimate Sessions.

This is just a quick round-up of the go-to places on and around Leidseplein, with still so much more venues to discover like Kopstootbar (with a.o. Paylogic Hangout), La Favela amongst others.

LGBTQ, dance veterans & dance battles
Head a bit more North for Amsterdam's most (in)famous LGBTQ street; the Reguliersdwarsstraat. It houses multiple LGBTQ-bars, like for example Club NYX which has a full five-day ADE-program hosted by Cesqeaux, Lady Bee, LNY TNZ, Vato Gonzales and Don Diablo's Hexagon.

Follow Reguliersdwarsstraat, cross the road and head right to end up on Rembrandtplein, a square just like Leidseplein where you can dance until the morning light in clubs such as AIR, Claire, Escape, Prime and others. Claire is ready-ing itself for several house and techno events from Wednesday until Saturday where you can find Denis Sulta playing an all-nighter on ADE-Wednesday. Other nights will be filled with artists like Archie Hamilton, Chris Stussy, Detroit Swindle and KAMMA among others. If you are more into Trance, Rap or Urban, head towards AIR where Tiësto will host his own night to celebrate the 10th Year Anniversary of his label Musical Freedom. Smash The House will take over Friday night for an event filled with Big-Room House. And don't forget about Bizzey on Wednesday and Broederliefde on Saturday for some smooth beats.

Prominent in the middle of Rembrandtplein, you will find Escape; a multi-spaced venue for a total clubbing experience, consisting of Escape Club, Lounge, Delux and the Royal Room which all together are hosting 14 club nights. From bangers with Leandro Da Silva, Marnik and Quintino to a Femmazing women-only club night and Asian networking events. Historical note: just like Paradiso and Melkweg, Escape was one of the first ADE venues ever.

Let's continue with 50:HERTZ as they are taking over Bar Lunar and Live Amsterdam at Rembrandtplein to present more than 20 free showcases in collaboration with labels from all over the world. Also worth visiting is De Kleine Komedie close to Rembrandtplein, where you can enjoy a performance from two live analog synth artists, LudoWic & YAN.

Heading towards Amsterdam Central Station, you will walk into venues like PRIK and Café The Queens Head. Last one mentioned is one of Amsterdam's oldest LGBTQ bars. They will kick-off ADE with GDE "We All Dance Together", featuring a LGBTQ line-up, spread across more LGBTQ bars including Club YOLO, PRIK, and The Web.

Supperclub, which is just a little further around the corner of the Bloemenmarkt, brings a night full of spectacle with steaming music, provocative performances and artistic visuals. Besides five club nights, the venue will also host a culture clash dance battle. The aim of the battle is to bring different cultures together under the umbrella called hip-hop. 36 dancers from abroad and The Netherlands have been invited to participate. Culture Clash is all about love for dance, for other cultures and for life. For more hip-hop and trap, don't miss out on Bitterzoet's program.

ADE Zen Space
Nearby you will find the 17th century De Waalse Kerk. De Waalse Kerk is a Protestant church that has been in use since 1586. The church will be the home to ADE's Zen Space, the new four-day program which offers meditative art and music experiences in order to have a break from the high pace of ADE. The packed program includes a one of a kind sleeping concert hosted by Circle Of Live and Breakfast Club. ADE Zen Space will be open from ADE Wednesday to Saturday from 12 (noon) until 8 PM and is accessible for ADE Card, ADE Pass and ADE Conference Pass holders.

In-stores
Don't forget to visit several in-stores on the way. From Wednesday through Saturday Rush Hour is set to host one and Bordello A Parigi as well, with a fine selection of DJ's everyday. Zwart Goud expanded itself to a vinyl record store, blog, radio, events & electronic music playground, and will do an in-store during the week including a Q&A with Freddy K. MARY GO WILD, is well known for- and home to the Dutch nightlife and club culture. Being a store, brand and music platform they will also host several store-gigs with Gem Records, Joost van Bellen, Willie Wartaal and more.

ADE Sound Lab
While being in the neighbourhood also drop by at De Brakke Grond and Compagnietheater, where ADE Sound Lab is housed - the multi-day track covering everything about sound, creativity, and technology. Their program starts Wednesday, October 16th and rounds up Saturday October 19th. De Brakke Grond is also set to host ADE Beam Lab featuring inspiring audiovisual talks, showcases the latest software, and looks behind the scenes of creative directors like Christopher Bauder, Polina Zakh and others.

Koepelkerk, Amsterdam Central Station and Meneer Nieges
Close by you will find another church called the Koepelkerk. The imposing church is hosting a two-night program featuring Mike Williams and Ofenbach’s brand new shows. At Amsterdam's Central Station Spinnin’ has found its home inside Lil' Amsterdam, located in the 'Amstelpassage' from Wednesday till Sunday. Mixmash Records will host a pop-up store on Thursday. Also, Roughstate will bring some thundering beats of Hardstyle to the train station, in addition Tchami and Audio Obscura will host their own events in the Amstelpassage.

Going through a tunnel with windows and mirrors just outside the Central Station, you will find Meneer Nieges at the waterfront. Visit Lumberjack in Hell hosted by no one other than Marcel Vogel, who is widely known for his labels Lumberjacks in Hell and Intimate Friends. Head east from Central Station and find Ihlia, a formerly International Gay / Lesbian Information Center and Archive that focuses on collecting information about the LGBTQ culture. While being in the area do visit Mediamatic for DIADROMÍ, an installation made by visual artist Heleen Blanken, that portrays the refinement of a system, creating a symbiosis between five small greenhouses.

We tried to show you all the corners of the city centre, but the best thing is to pick your cherries in our program yourself, which you can find here. You can find all the venues located in Amsterdam’s city centre listed below.


Photo credits: Jack Pinkman, Jimmy Woo, Kirsten van Santen, Lieke van den Oord and Mark Richter.