THE AGENDA: October in the Netherlands

October is always a big month for the Netherlands, with ADE just around the corner. For its celebratory 30th edition, Amsterdam is turning into a massive stage featuring nearly 3,000 artists across more than 200 venues. Just picture five days of pure electronic beats kicking off the dopamine as you browse through one venue to another.   

But it’s not just ADE, plenty is happening outside that week too, from BØĘRY's hard, distorted techno in Rotterdam and D Stone's warm, groove-led house at Lofi, to global names like Stevie Wonder and The Strokes. This month is stacked from the beginning through to the end, inside ADE and well beyond it.

Geheime Liefde presents: HRFST 2026

сб, 3.10, 14:00 ч. • Fort Vechten, NL

Geheime Liefde presents: HRFST 2026

October opens in a 19th-century fort just outside Utrecht. Fort Vechten sits in Bunnik as part of the old Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie, and Geheime Liefde builds the stages straight into the bunkers and corridors. The lineup stays secret until the event itself, giving it a mysterious feel. Last year brought heavy hitters like Joyhauser, DIØN, Miss Melera, and Superstrings, which tells you everything you already need to know: the bar is set high. Expect techno and tech house as the main character, while melodic, trance and disco set the vibe around it.

Lofi by D Stone

пт, 9.10, 22:00 ч. • Lofi, NL

Lofi by D Stone

Tucked away in Amsterdam West, D Stone is taking over Lofi for a night of his own. Echoing the venue’s evolution from a GVB bus garage to one of the city's most iconic music-first spots, expect a set built from live piano and guitar melodies, seamlessly layering samples from classic house and proto-disco into deeper, percussive territory. Fueled by an irresistible blend of 70s and 80s disco grooves, garage, and funk, it’s designed to keep you dancing all night long. ESTRELLA, La La, and Tsepo round out the lineup to keep that high energy flowing right through to closing. Plus, with a strict no-phones policy, you can leave your camera roll alone and dive straight into the flow.

BØĘRY All Night Long

сб, 10.10, 23:59 ч. • Maassilo, NL

BØĘRY All Night Long

If you're looking for high-energy, punchy hard techno, make your way to Maassilo in Rotterdam, where BØĘRY has the entire night. The venue is an architectural relic turned into a nightlife labyrinth. A converted grain silo on the Maas that prioritises scale, shadow and raw kinetic energy over typical club polish. BØĘRY’s speciality is bochka, the bouncy, distorted kick style that came out of the Eastern European scene and has been eating Dutch dancefloors ever since. Seven hours, one DJ, no breaks. 

Awakenings | ADE 2026

21.10 – 25.10 • SugarFactory, NL

Awakenings ADE 2026

ADE arrives, and one of Amsterdam's most popular events takes over the city once more with seven shows spread across the five nights. The home base for the week? SugarFactory in Halfweg, an epic former sugar refinery 10 minutes from Centraal, loaded with raw concrete, brickwork, and towering steel beams. Expect this to be the techno spine of your week, with Adam Beyer's Drumcode takeover on Thursday and Jeff Mills landing on Joris Voorn's Saturday bill, creating big-room weight and Detroit heritage inside the same run. Friday turns darker and more hypnotic, with Ben Klock going back to back with Philippa Pacho, and Rødhåd sharing a booth with JakoJako. Adriatique's all-nighter softens everything into melodic house, and the Joseph Capriati and Prospa sets carry tech-house to close out the week.

DGTL | ADE 2026

22.10 – 25.10 • NDSM Warehouse, NL

DGTL ADE 2026

As one of Amsterdam’s most iconic event series, DGTL is raising the bar once again. For this ADE, they’re delivering their largest lineup ever, bringing a massive spectrum of genres to NDSM Warehouse and De Kromhouthal. Across eight events and five nights, every single set offers a distinctive musical experience. Thursday runs UK garage and bass through DJ EZ and Dr Dubplate on one stage, while the other goes full trance and eurodance. Friday shifts towards melodic and progressive, with Tinlicker playing an extended live show in the early evening before Joris Voorn takes the room deep into the night. Saturday is a tough call: Shimza curates his first ever full DGTL show around Afro house at NDSM, while Lane 8's takes over Kromhouthal with This Never Happened. Sunday closes out with deep, dubby tech-house courtesy of the FUSE crew, alongside an extended disco and soul session from Folamour that runs straight through to sunrise.

909 x Loveland | ADE 2026

сб, 24.10, 12:00 ч. • Mediahaven, NL

909 x Loveland ADE 2026

What makes this one so special is that the entire event revolves around a single icon: the Roland TR-909. Dropped in 1983, its iconic sound with punchy drums and crisp hi-hats built the very foundation of the electronic music scene, anchoring every single set on the lineup. Just picture this: ten hours on an industrial dock at Mediahaven, three areas, and a bill that keeps things raw and back to basics. Kerri Chandler and DJ Deep carry the deep house lineage, DVS1 and Chris Liebing back to back with Len Faki bring the weight, and Colin Benders improvises his entire set live on a wall of modular synths, making it a truly one-off set.

Speedy J presents STOOR Live | ADE 2026

24.10 – 25.10 • Paradiso, NL

Speedy J presents STOOR Live

If you want to watch music being made rather than played, Speedy J has you covered. Two days at Paradiso, one of Amsterdam's most iconic venues, filled with eight hours of improvised hardware jamming each day, nothing pre-programmed and nothing rehearsed. Musicians rotate in and out around Speedy J across the Main Hall, the Upstairs Room and the Basement. Expect it to sit at the experimental end of techno, with Donato Dozzy pulling Sunday into slow, hypnotic territory and Rødhåd and JakoJako bringing the harder, industrial edge on Saturday. To top it off, the visuals are jammed live right alongside the music. Live camera feeds run through custom-modified hardware that breaks the signal in real time, fracturing the imagery in perfect harmony with every beat. A total must for the diehard live-in-the-moment crowd.

The Strokes - Reality Awaits

нд, 11.10, 20:00 ч. • Ziggo Dome, NL

The Strokes

Twenty-five years ago, five New Yorkers in thrift-store leather made a record that reset what a guitar band was supposed to sound like, and every indie act since has been working from the same blueprint. After roughly two decades away, The Strokes finally return to Amsterdam, carrying Reality Awaits, their first fresh body of work in six long years. Supporting them are Fat White Family with their loud and confrontational post-punk, alongside Alex Cameron and his saxophone-driven synth-pop. Reality Awaits you for a night of nostalgia, leather jackets and the sound of 2001.

Stevie Wonder: Songs In The Key of Life Performances

ср, 28.10, 20:00 ч. • Ziggo Dome, NL

Stevie Wonder

Blessing us with his voice for 64 years, Stevie Wonder brings the album most people consider his finest to the Ziggo Dome. Songs In The Key of Life turns fifty this year, and he's performing it from start to finish. That means the bangers are all in. Get ready for a soul-charged singalong to "Sir Duke," "Isn't She Lovely," and the entire tracklist of a record that defined a generation. While it took home the Album of the Year award, its impact goes far beyond it. This is a record about love, grief, childhood, and aging – a timeless masterpiece where almost everyone finds a song that feels like it was written just for them. One legendary record, one memorable night, and one of the most talented artists alive today. 

That's October. Lock in what you can, list your tickets if plans change and keep half an eye on TicketSwap feed for the rest. We'll see you somewhere between a fort in Bunnik and your fifth ADE afterparty.