From 23 to 25 October, ZERØBPM presents a three-day ambient meditation ritual at De Thomaskerk, featuring 33 artists from the techno and electronic music scene, including Rødhåd & .VRIL, Nastia, Fadi Mohem, Portable (live) and GiGi FM. Throughout the ADE weekend, artists and audiences trade the dancefloor for meditation cushions. No talking, no phones, no alcohol. Almost 50 hours of music and collective silence in a futuristic setting.
900 parties, one moment of silence
During Amsterdam Dance Event, club shows, meetings, conversations and long nights follow one another at high speed. The city is in overdrive. ZERØBPM brings a different form of gathering to ADE. The programme explores what emerges when electronic music receives the full attention of a room.
The ADE programme brings together 33 artists from the techno and electronic music scene. They present ambient, live, hybrid and experimental sets. Many are known from clubs, festivals and dancefloors. At ZERØBPM, they explore a different part of their musical practice.
Listening in a time of fragmented attention
Work, messages, social media, obligations and screens interrupt attention throughout the day. Rest is increasingly measured. Sleep becomes a score on a wearable. Meditation becomes a streak to maintain. Recovery is tied to data and routines.
ZERØBPM creates a listening space in which sound is given time. Visitors put their phones away before entering. No conversation takes place inside the church. Each performance lasts ninety minutes. This duration makes small shifts in tone and resonance audible.
The brutalist architecture of De Thomaskerk, the light scenography and the presence of hundreds of visitors shape each session. No prior meditation experience is required. Participants come for the music, the space or a moment of concentration.
Natural High
At ZERØBPM, tea is served. Alcohol has no place in the experience. The organisation calls this state of attention a Natural High. Its intensity comes from music, duration and the presence of a full room.
At the centre of the church, a Meditation Master sits in deep meditation throughout the full 16.5-hour opening period. A different Meditation Master takes this position each day. The music unfolds around this central presence. DJs perform from the side of the room and remain largely out of sight. Attention rests with the sound, the light art and the silent audience.
ZERØBPM places electronic music in a space with meditation cushions. The task of the DJ shifts. The room becomes still. Sound provides the path into that stillness.
Born from the techno scene
ZERØBPM emerged from the electronic music scene, driven by a curiosity for the wider possibilities within this music.
Here, music is given time. A note may linger. A frequency may move through the body. Silence may last longer than expected. The artists build sets without a prescribed climax, allowing visitors to gradually lose their sense of time.
Five collectives and labels host parts of the programme: IsBurning, Sea~rène, Ratherlost, ORPHIC and MNMT. Friday is shaped around Deep Sea, Saturday around Cosmos, and Sunday around Mother Earth.
Audio partner Addit Audio provides the sound systems. Its 3D-printed speakers have been developed around spatiality, acoustics and the physical experience of sound.
The relationship between music, meditation and wellbeing at ZERØBPM is the subject of academic research. Research conducted by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Arizona State University during the 2025 editions found significant reductions in stress- and anxiety-related indicators among participants.
The Ritual
The brutalist De Thomaskerk in Amsterdam’s Zuidas district was designed almost seventy years ago as a place for gathering and reflection. During ADE, ZERØBPM uses the building as a listening environment for music, silence and collective attention.
Artist and scenographer Vincent Rang is developing three hanging compositions for Deep Sea, Cosmos and Mother Earth. The works are made from gathered natural materials, including shells, sticks, plants and dried leaves. They hang in a six-by-three-metre frame and are set in motion by a motorised system developed by Coen den Haan. Rang gathers materials, including in the Kennemerduinen, and develops the compositions in his studio at Het Salon in Sloterdijk. Their form emerges gradually, from the materials themselves and their relationship to one another in space.
During ADE 2025, ZERØBPM staged a 39.5-hour ambient meditation ritual at De Thomaskerk. The 2026 edition spans three full days, with 33 artists and a programme running from 07:30 until midnight.
At ZERØBPM, visitors book a ticket for a ninety-minute session. A gong marks the beginning of each session. The doors then open. The music can be experienced with eyes open or closed.
“In the club, we are used to overstimulation, high-speed music and substances that push everything further. At ZERØBPM, as much as possible is removed. Listening itself becomes the experience. Only when music has your full attention is there room to hear how much it contains. And perhaps to learn something about yourself.”
Gijs Wagemakers, co-founder of ZERØBPM
ZERØBPM ADE 2026
23 to 25 October 2026
De Thomaskerk, Amsterdam
Daily, 07:30 to 00:00
33 artists, including:
Rødhåd, Nastia, Fadi Mohem, Portable (live), .VRIL, GiGi FM and Altinbas.
Hosting partners:
IsBurning
Sea~rène
Ratherlost
ORPHIC
MNMT
Audio partner:
Addit Audio