ID&T


ID&T is a Dutch entertainment and medium enterprise that was founded in the early 1990s. Their event Thunderdome is named the oldest electronic festival in the Netherlands, with later events like Mysteryland, Trance Energy and Sensation. It operates many of the largest electronic dance music events in the world. They were also involved in the editions of Tomorrowland up until 2013.

History

Early years and growth

[Image:Thunderdome logo.jpg|thumb|The ID&T wizard, the old logo taken from a character produced by street artist Mode 2]
ID&T stands for the initials of three founders of the company, Irfan van Ewijk, Duncan Stutterheim and Theo Lelie, all residents of Amsterdam. All three were experienced in organizing house, techno and trance parties when they created ID&T, and their goal is to organize the largest events in the Netherlands and the European electronic dance music scene. Their first big event was "The Final Exam" in the Utrecht Conference Center, with about 12,000 people in attendance.
Today, ID&T is one of the largest dance organizers in the Netherlands. Events organised by the company include Sensation in the Amsterdam Arena, with around 40,000 people. There are two editions, Sensation, happening in the first Saturday of July, where all attendees come dressed in white, and BLACK, happening in the Saturday thereafter, where all attendees wear in black.
Other parties include Mysteryland on the Floriade 2002 terrain near Hoofddorp, with around 50,000 people, Innercity in the Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre with eight areas and several styles, happening in the middle of December, Thunderdome, Trance Energy, Bloomingdale and NJOY. Such parties last all night, from 11pm to 7am, including laser shows and fireworks. ID&T also operated the ID&T Release magazine and the music download portal ID&T Dance Tunes.com. Since 2014 the music download portal went offline without prior notice. Currently only Dance-Tunes Radio is active, an online streaming service hosted from Belgium.
They organized the first event where a single DJ played all night long, with Tiësto in Gelredome on 11 May 2003. These events were organized again in the same venue on two subsequent nights on 29 and 30 October 2004 and again on 2 June 2007. The same happened at Ethias Arena in Hasselt on 6 Nov 2004 and 19 May 2007. The concerts in 2007 are named 'Elements of Life'.
They also collaborated with Q-Dance in the organization of "The One Man Show" concert of DJ Luna at the Gelredome in Arnhem.
On July 16, 2005, the first Sensation White was organized in Germany, at Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen. Together with the musical and theatre company Stage Entertainment they created ID&T Germany as a joint venture. On April 16, 2005 the same event took place in Belgium.
In 2009, it was organized for the first time on two subsequent nights on 3 and 4 July in the Amsterdam Arena where the opening of the Wicked Wonderland took place.

SFX/LiveStyle

In 2013, the American conglomerate SFX Entertainment acquired a 75% majority stake in ID&T. In December 2014, it was announced that ID&T would be a "creative partner" for Electric Zoo 2015 in New York City, which is also owned by SFX.
In 2016, SFX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection; the transition was not expected to impact ID&T's events, besides the U.S. TomorrowWorld event. The company later emerged under new leadership as LiveStyle.

Superstruct

In 2021, LiveStyle sold ID&T to the British company Superstruct Entertainment, a company led by Cream co-founder James Barton that also owns Øyafestivalen and Sónar.
In 2024, Superstruct was in turn acquired by U.S. private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts for US$1.4 billion.

List of ID&T events

NameYearLocationNotesMax attendancePicture
Thunderdome1992–presentNetherlandsOperated by ID&T, more than 10,000 people in attendance on 20 June 1992. From 1992 to 2012 it operated Thunderdome as a festival.50,000
Mysteryland1993–presentNetherlands, Bethel, NY, ChileAn annual festival billed as the oldest dance music festival in the Netherlands.100,000+
Trance Energy1999–2010NetherlandsFounded by ID&T as a large trance event. It was being held up until 2010, after which the name changed to "Energy". There have been no Energy parties since 2013.30,000
Innercity1999-2006Netherlands, AmsterdamYearly dance event in Amsterdam RAI. There were also international editions in Belgium, Moscow, Brasil, Vegas, Germany and Israel20,000
Sensation2000–2017
2020—Present
Amsterdam Arena, InternationalThe Dutch indoor dance-event has been divided into two versions. Sensation Black concentrated more on darker music, such as Hardstyle and Hardcore, while Sensation White is typically a house and trance event. Attendees were required to wear all black or white, depending on the event. Ever since 2009 Black was no longer held in the Arena, while White continues to this day.45,000
Tomorrowland2005–2013Boom, BelgiumThe largest electronic music festival held in the world, with over 600 000 attending in 2022. ID&T was involved up until 2013600 000+
TomorrowWorld2013–2015Georgia, United StatesOrganized by ID&T Belgium, spinoff of Tomorrowland. In its inaugural year, TomorrowWorld received a nomination for Best Music Event at the International Dance Music Awards.160,000
Amsterdam Music Festival2014–presentAmsterdamLarge event organized by ALDA Events and ID&T.
Electric Zoo Festival2009–presentNew York CityAn annual electronic music festival held over Labor Day weekend in New York City on Randall's Island. Founded in 2009, IDandT became a creative element in 2014.110,000

Awards and nominations

[International [Dance Music Awards]]

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