DGTL Amsterdam

History

DGTL was founded in 2013 by Jasper Goossen's Amsterdam promotions company Apenkooi Events, debuting as a one-day event at NDSM Docklands, the former shipyard across the IJ from Amsterdam's city center that had spent the prior decade turning into an arts and creative-industry hub. The first edition sold out, and so did the next two, which pushed the festival from a single day into the two-day (later three-day) format it runs today. NDSM's mix of cavernous former warehouse space and open dockside area gave DGTL a venue that could hold both a dark, warehouse-scale techno room and an outdoor, daylight-facing house stage without feeling like two separate events bolted together, a layout the festival still leans on.

Sustainability became a defining part of DGTL's identity early and stayed there. The festival began working toward circularity as far back as 2014, and by 2020 had set an explicit goal of becoming the world's first fully circular dance music event. It got there in 2022: residual waste per visitor per day dropped from roughly 93 grams in 2019 to around 20 grams, food across the site went fully plant-based, and energy sourcing moved away from diesel generators toward renewable supply. That track record is a big part of why DGTL gets cited internationally as a reference case for festival sustainability rather than treated as a marketing angle, and the festival has continued pushing the framing further, including exploring Amsterdam's "doughnut economics" model with the city.

Ownership changed hands during that same stretch. In July 2022, ID&T, the Dutch dance promotion group behind Sensation and Mysteryland, took a stake in Apenkooi, folding DGTL into ID&T's platform while Goossen's company stayed on to run it day to day. ID&T itself sits inside Superstruct Entertainment, the roll-up promoter that also owns Sónar in Barcelona, Boiler Room and roughly eighty other festivals across Europe, and which KKR acquired a majority stake in during 2024. When artists pressured Superstruct-owned festivals over KKR's other investments in 2025, DGTL was one of the properties, alongside Sónar, that issued its own public statement addressing the pressure. The brand has also expanded well beyond Amsterdam since then, with editions in Barcelona, Chile, Brazil and, as of late 2026, India, where Nina Kraviz played DGTL's Bengaluru and Mumbai dates.

The Amsterdam edition remains the flagship and, as the spring opener on the European festival calendar, has kept its original identity: a techno and house-leaning lineup split across NDSM's warehouse and waterside stages, still built around the circular, low-waste production standard the festival spent the better part of a decade establishing.

FAQ

When is DGTL Amsterdam?

The Amsterdam edition runs every spring, opening the European festival calendar. The 2027 edition is scheduled for March 26-28.

What makes DGTL a "circular" festival?

DGTL set a goal in 2020 of becoming the world's first fully circular dance festival and reached it in 2022, cutting residual waste per visitor per day from about 93 grams in 2019 to roughly 20 grams, switching to fully plant-based food across the site, and moving its energy supply toward renewable sources.

Who owns DGTL now?

DGTL is organized by Apenkooi Events, founded by Jasper Goossen, which has operated within Dutch promoter ID&T's platform since ID&T took a stake in July 2022. ID&T is itself part of Superstruct Entertainment, the festival group majority-owned by investment firm KKR since 2024.

Is DGTL only held in Amsterdam?

No. Amsterdam is the original and flagship edition, but DGTL has expanded to other cities and countries over the years, including Barcelona, editions in South America, and, more recently, India.