The principle stage at Tomorrowland engulfed in flames.
STRINGER/BELGA MAG/AFP/Getty Pictures
Tomorrowland will go forward as deliberate, even after the primary stage caught hearth on Wednesday, July 16, sooner or later earlier than the massively well-liked EDM pageant in Belgium was set to start.
In a press release shared on Instagram, organizers wrote, “As a result of a severe incident and hearth on the Tomorrowland Mainstage, our beloved Mainstage has been severely broken.” Additionally they confirmed that nobody was injured or killed within the blaze.
Because it stands, Tomorrowland will open its DreamVille campsite on Thursday, July 17, the place a number of occasions and performances will happen. Extra occasions deliberate in Brussels and Antwerp will even go forward “as deliberate,” organizers mentioned.
As for the remainder of the pageant, which is ready to run July 18 by way of 20 (with a second weekend slated for July 24 by way of 27), organizers mentioned, “We’re centered on discovering options for the pageant weekend. Extra updates and detailed data can be communicated as quickly as doable.”
At a press convention (through Gazet van Antwerpen), Tomorrowland spokesperson Debby Wilmsen mentioned, “Years of affection and keenness have gone into constructing that stage. These groups are devastated.” She added, “Tomorrow, 38,000 festival-goers will arrive, we’re actually wanting ahead to that, and we’re going to provide them a heat welcome. We’re going to make it a beautiful pageant.”
Wilmsen famous that the entire different Tomorrowland phases are nonetheless “intact,” including, “The intention is for the pageant to go forward. However we are able to’t do magic, so will probably be with out the primary stage. Our manufacturing group will now do the whole lot they will to make it really particular.”
It’s nonetheless unclear what brought about the hearth. In some movies shared online, what appeared like fireworks could possibly be heard popping off within the background as firefighters labored to comprise the blaze. Sources advised the Gazet van Antwerpen that one thing might have gone incorrect whereas the primary stage’s fireworks cannons have been being examined.
An area firefighter, François van den Eynde, advised reporters that the blaze “unfold in a short time,” doubtless due to the “supplies used” to construct the stage. “Regardless of all our assets, it was inconceivable to cease one thing like that,” he mentioned. “We tried to extinguish the hearth, however as quickly as you notice you’re not succeeding, it’s important to restrict the injury to the remainder of the pageant website. That’s what we did. Every thing is underneath management.”
Within the 20 years because it started, Tomorrowland has change into one of many largest and hottest music festivals on the earth, with final 12 months’s occasion attracting an estimated 400,000 folks. The 2025 lineup boasts quite a few high-profile EDM stars, together with Swedish Home Mafia, David Guetta, Steve Aoki, Dillon Francis, Deadmau5, and Eric Prydz.
From Rolling stone US.