ADE 2026 Timetable: Who Plays When, and Where

Amsterdam Dance Event has no single timetable. It is a five-day programme assembled by several hundred independent promoters across the city, each publishing its own running order, which means the festival's schedule exists only as the sum of its listings. Mood currently carries 301 confirmed ADE 2026 events for October 21st-25th, spread across 105 venues and involving 769 named artists. This is a reading of that schedule from the artist side: who is booked, how often, and where the week's clashes are going to land.

The 23:00 problem

The single most useful thing to know about the ADE timetable is that 82 of the 301 listed events start at 23:00 - more than a quarter of the entire week compressed into one hour of one clock. Friday October 23rd is the worst of it, with 28 events beginning simultaneously at 23:00; Saturday has 25 and Thursday 22.

Underneath that there are two earlier waves. Twenty-seven events start at 14:00 and twenty-eight at 20:00, which is the practical argument for treating ADE as a daytime festival with a club programme attached rather than the other way round. An afternoon warehouse session and a 23:00 club booking rarely conflict; two 23:00 bookings always do.

The artists playing more than once

Ninety-four of the 769 artists on the confirmed programme are booked for more than one set, and ten are booked three or more times. That group is the closest thing ADE has to a spine, because those are the names you can still catch if the first attempt clashes.

Octo Octa plays three: Pllek on Thursday at 22:00, Club Raum's SPIELRAUM 55HRS on Friday at 23:00, and an Intercell daytime session with Eris Drew at Bajes Lounge on Saturday at 14:00 - a night set, a marathon and a matinee, all different rooms.

DJ Nobu also plays three, and his are spread wider: Vault Sessions at TILLA TEC on Thursday at 23:00, Audio Obscura x EXHALE at RAW factory on Friday at 16:00, and Intercell at H7 Warehouse on Saturday at 14:00. Gene On Earth takes Pllek on Thursday night, then two Sunday sets - RADION at 08:00 and Garage Noord at 17:00 - which is one of the most demanding Sundays anyone has been given.

NTO runs Hotel Arena on Thursday, Scheepsbouwloods on Friday and Chicago Social Club on Saturday afternoon. Helsloot plays Toekomstmuziek on Thursday evening and then doubles on Friday, Scheepsbouwloods at 17:30 into Melkweg at 18:00. BASHKKA has Klaproos and Club Raum on Friday and Bajes Lounge on Sunday night. Phil Berg takes TILLA TEC, Blast Galaxy and Bajes Lounge; Olive Anguz plays Scheepsbouwloods, H7 Warehouse and Pllek; Ornery has two Friday slots and a Sunday night at Baggerbeest.

The tenth is a warning about the data as much as an entry. Bella Claxton is listed at Thuishaven at 16:00 on Friday and then twice at 23:00 the same night - Thuishaven again and H7 Warehouse. Two rooms cannot both be right, and one of those promoters will correct the listing closer to the week. Timetable conflicts of that kind are normal at this distance from the festival and worth checking against the promoter's own page before building a night around one.

Among the ninety-four playing twice, the pairings are often the clearest signal of what a set will be. Marcel Dettmann has Westeweelde on Friday at 23:00 and RADION on Saturday at 23:00, both peak-time. Rrose is at Levenslang on Thursday afternoon and RADION at 09:00 on Saturday morning, which is a very different assignment. SPFDJ plays RAW factory on Thursday at 16:00 and H7 Warehouse at 23:30 on Saturday, Sandrien takes TILLA TEC and Club Raum on consecutive nights, and Miss Monique moves from Het Sieraad on Thursday evening to Scheepsbouwloods at 23:30 on Friday. DJ BORING, Skin On Skin and Sidney Charles all appear on the same Friday noon bill at NDSM Producties before scattering across the rest of the week.

The fixed points

A handful of bookings anchor the week and are unlikely to move. Jean-Michel Jarre opens at AFAS Live on Wednesday October 21st, with Armin van Buuren playing Gashouder Westergasfabriek alongside Benwal the same night. Wednesday's confirmed line-up is on Mood.

Anjunadeep take Paradiso on Thursday, October 22nd, one of the steadier bookings before the schedule thickens for the weekend.

Friday, October 23nd, is the densest day at the top of the bill: KI/KI plays five hours at Ziggo Dome from 20:00, Jamie Jones headlines Paradise x Loveland at Mediahaven at 23:00, and BURST presents TLM - Tjade, Lucky Done Gone and Moody Mehran - opens Royal Theater Carré at 14:00.

Marcel Dettmann plays Fabric x Loud at Westeweelde that night before a Saturday booking at RADION.

Saturday, October 24th, carries the two-day residencies alongside the rest of its own bill: Verknipt runs its ADE Special at AFAS Live across both Saturday and Sunday, and Speedy J presents STOOR Live opens at Paradiso on Saturday from 16:00. Awakenings, KNTXT, Drumcode and Toolroom have not yet appeared in the listings.

Sunday is the day most first-timers misjudge. Forty-two events are listed and only two of them start at 23:00; the weight sits between 13:00 and 15:00, with fourteen starts in that window and Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ carrying the most of any room. The closing day is a matinee, not a fifth night, which is why the Sunday bookings tend to go to the artists who have already played twice - Speedy J presents STOOR Live continues there from 15:00.

Where the venues cluster

Melkweg carries the most listings of any single venue at 21, with Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ at 15, then Paradiso, AFAS Live, Shelter, RADION, Westeweelde and Gashouder Westergasfabriek at seven or eight each. The rest of the 105 venues carry one to five events, which is the structural reason ADE is hard to plan: the programme is wide rather than deep, and most rooms host a single night.

The narrative version of the week - what each day feels like rather than who is on it - is covered in the day-by-day ADE parties guide, and the practical side, tickets, badges and neighbourhoods, sits in the full ADE visitor guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there an official ADE timetable?

There is no single running order for the festival. ADE publishes an official programme through its own app and site, but individual set times are set by each promoter and often confirmed in the final fortnight. The listings on Mood carry the confirmed start time and venue for each event as promoters release them, which is generally earlier than set-level timings appear.

How many artists are playing ADE 2026?

Mood's confirmed listings name 769 artists across 301 events and 105 venues for October 21st-25th, and both figures are still climbing as promoters announce through September. ADE's own organisers have quoted figures above 3,000 artists for recent editions, which counts conference speakers and unannounced support alongside headline bookings.

What time do ADE events start?

Overwhelmingly at 23:00 - 82 of the 301 confirmed events begin in that hour. The two other clusters are 14:00 and 20:00. Daytime sessions typically run four to six hours, and night programming runs to morning at venues licensed for it, which is most of the warehouse spaces outside the centre.

Can I see the same artist twice at ADE?

For 94 of the confirmed artists, yes. Ten are booked three or more times, usually across a night set, a daytime session and a marathon - Octo Octa, DJ Nobu and Gene On Earth among them. Because the sets are in different rooms and formats, the second booking is rarely a repeat of the first.

Find ADE events on Mood

The confirmed ADE 2026 programme, along with everything else running in the city that week, is listed by date and venue on Mood and updated as promoters announce.