NL’s A State of Trance to relocate and expand
Armin van Buuren has announced ambitious plans to expand his Dutch festival, A State of Trance (ASOT).
The Dutch DJ revealed that the festival will leave its long-standing home in Utrecht and take up residency at Rotterdam Ahoy in 2024. This is partly due to the demolition of the largest stage in the event’s former home, Jaarbeurs.
Next year, the ALDA-promoted festival will see more than 70 artists performing across five stages and two days at the arena.
In addition to the usual night-time programme, various fringe activities will be organised in Rotterdam during the weekend, including demo sessions, masterclasses, panels, pre-parties and Q&As with artists. The temporary A State of Trance Hotel will be the hotspot of the weekend.
The move was announced on van Buuren’s A State of Trance radio show: “Utrecht has been a great home base for my A State of Trance events in the Netherlands for many years. We have all been able to make a lot of beautiful memories there; in 1993 I went to the Jaarbeurs for my very first rave and I also held Armin Only shows there.
“We often hear from fans that they would like an even broader ASOT experience, so we will really focus on that next year”
“But the large iconic space where our main stage used to be is unfortunately being demolished, so we had no choice but to look for a new home. We see a lot of possibilities at this new location and I can’t wait to continue building the future of A State of Trance in Rotterdam!”
Allan Hardenberg, CEO and co-founder of ALDA, adds: “The good cooperation with the city of Rotterdam is a great opportunity to further expand the A State of Trance brand and to enhance the experience for the visitor to an even higher level. We often hear from fans that they would like an even broader A State of Trance experience, so we will really focus on that next year with the addition of the day program and the A State of Trance Hotel.”
In other news, a new festival celebrating A State of Trance’s 20th anniversary is coming to London’s Dockyards this summer.
Van Buuren, ARGY, Ben Gold, Cosmic Gate, Gareth Emery, MORTEN, Pretty Pink, Solarstone and Vini Vici are some of the names set to play the 2 July event, which will feature three stages.
Organisers are expecting an audience of 20,000, making ASOT London the largest trance event in the city’s history.
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Ukraine fundraisers: “Music has the power to make a difference”
A handful of benefit concerts have each raised upwards of six figures for humanitarian and financial relief during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Dutch promoter ALDA and renowned Dutch radio show ASOT100 (A State of Trance) raised a total of €152,350 from their Dance for Ukraine fundraiser in Poland.
The event took place on Saturday (12 March) at the Tauron Arena (cap. 22,000) in Kraków and featured performances from ASTOT producers Armin van Buuren and Ruben de Ronde among others.
The proceeds from Dance for Ukraine go to the Polish Red Cross to aid their efforts in helping the Ukrainian people in need.
Elsewhere, in Belgium, more than fourteen electronic music festivals and nightlife collectives rolled up their sleeves for a unique open-air festival to raise funds for Ukraine.
Led by festivals Hangar and Paradise City, the United for Ukraine benefit at Atomium in Brussels garnered €100,000 for Underground4Ukraine.
More than 4,000 attendees watched performances from Charlotte de Witte, Lefto, AliA, DC Salas and Ukrainian singer Ana Fantana who sang the national anthem.
“You proved that music has the power to make a difference,” wrote Paradise City on Facebook the day after the event.
Across the pond, a fundraiser at New York City’s City Winery, hosted by Ukrainian-born Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello, raised US$130,000 (€118,500).
Patti Smith, The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn and Suzanne Vega were among the artists that performed at the benefit.
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Proceeds from the concert were donated to Come Back Alive, a foundation that provides support to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and Care.org.
Among the funds raised, there was a $50,000 donation by Yoko Ono and Sean Ono Lennon to Doctors Without Borders.
“Fundraising is crucial,” Hutz told Rolling Stone. “People are being super generous and making astronomical donations. Our task is to keep beating the drum and tell the story authentically.”
More benefit concerts for Ukraine are being announced every day, with Arcade Fire’s fundraiser in New Orleans, Louisana, being the latest.
The Canadian band will take to the stage at the city’s Toulouse Theatre venue tonight (14 March) and all proceeds will benefit the Plus 1 Ukraine relief fund.
Elsewhere, Polish promoter Follow the Step has announced a televised charity concert, Together with Ukraine, featuring some of the biggest Polish and Ukrainian stars.
Vito Bambino, Zalewski, Igo and Daria Zawiałow are among the artists that will perform at Atlas Arena (cap. 13,806) on 20 March for Together with Ukraine.
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