Amsterdam Dance Event To Go Ahead Despite Curfews

Visitors of Amsterdam Dance Event Festival are used to dancing into the daylight hours.
Lieke Vermeulen – Visitors of Amsterdam Dance Event Festival are used to dancing into the daylight hours.
It’s unlikely the recently imposed curfews will dampen their spirits too much.

The Dutch government’s latest set of COVID restrictions, announced Sept. 14, brings back a curfew lasting from midnight to 6 a.m., which won’t stop Amsterdam Dance Event Festival from going ahead, Oct. 13-17.

The early morning hours are arguably the busies for dance events like ADE. And although the event’s directors Meindert Kennis and Jan-Willem van de Ven “are baffled by the new set of regulations,” according to a statement, “the ADE team sees no objection against a solid and safe ADE Festival in accordance with the current restrictions.”
Details of what this may look like will be worked out between ADE’s organizers and Amsterdam city council in the coming days. One requirement will be COVID health checks at the gates.
The Conference of Amsterdam Dance Event has already been canceled. Months of regulatory uncertainties paired with strict conditions surrounding international travel made planning and realisation impossible. It was an “especially difficult” decision, according to the directors, as this was a time in which the industry needed a platform to talk the most.
It at least freed up some resources for the planning of the ADE Festival, which, given its many venues and events, is a mammoth undertaking even in normal times.
People participate in the Unmute Us! march to protest against Covid-19 policy across the Netherlands In Amsterdam, Sept. 11, 2021.
SEM VAN DER WAL/ANP/AFP via Getty Images – People participate in the Unmute Us! march to protest against Covid-19 policy across the Netherlands In Amsterdam, Sept. 11, 2021.
The protest’s organizers have launched summary action against the Dutch government for its treatment of the live events sector.

“Although as of now a limited number of events have unfortunately been forced to cancel, plenty of organizers are still willing to go forward to have an amazing ADE Festival this year,” commented van de Ven.

 
The city’s nightlife scene has shown willingness to make it work, as well, including shifting their entire schedules to daytime in order to push forward  within the current measures. 
The Dutch festival and event industry organized two protest marches, Aug. 21 and Sept. 11, under the Unmute Us banner, the first of which got attended by 70,000 protesters (numbers on the second weren’t obtainable at press time).
However, the government failed to change its stance towards live music events, according the Unmute Us organizers. They say it continues to measure with a “double standard” when it comes to sporting events, for instance, and still fails to understand that most events that don’t run at full capacity aren’t economically viable.
Hence, the organizers of Unmute Us, Apenkooi Events, ID&T and MOJO are taking the government to court.