Summary
- A massive fire destroyed most of Tomorrowland’s main stage days before opening
- No injuries occurred, and staff were safely evacuated; the cause is under investigation
- Despite severe damage, the festival will proceed without a main stage, starting July 18
A massive fire engulfed the main stage of Tomorrowland music festival just days before its first weekend is scheduled to open.
Belgium public broadcaster VRT reported via CNN that the blaze destroyed almost the entirety of the main stage. VRT added that the approximately 1,000 staff members on site were evacuated, with the cause of the fire still unknown. No festival attendees were present.
Organizers confirmed in a statement that although the stage was “severely damaged,” there were thankfully no injuries. “We can announce that, DreamVille (campsite) will open tomorrow (Thursday, July 17) as planned and will be ready for all DreamVille visitors. All Global Journey activities in Brussels and Antwerp will take place as planned. We are focused on finding solutions for the festival weekend (Friday – Saturday – Sunday),” the statement continued.
Debby Wilmsen, press coordinator and spokesperson of Tomorrowland, stated that the incident left the crew devastated following the “love and passion” and years of work they put into creating the stage. “Tomorrow we’re expecting 38,000 festival-goers at DreamVille, at our campsite. We’re really looking forward to it,” she said. “We’re going to make it a great festival. It will be without a main stage. But hopefully, we can do something else, but I can’t say much about that yet.”
The annual electronic dance music festival takes place in the Belgian town of Boom. Local resident Morgan Hermans told CNN that the sound of fireworks caused her to look outside, and she saw “a big cloud of fireworks and smoke very near us.” She continued, “It’s one of the biggest events in the entire year. Our town is very small so to welcome people (from) around the entire world, it’s crazy and it’s so much fun. It’s a big deal so everyone in Boom was a bit terrified for a few seconds.”
Tomorrowland is still scheduled to continue, with weekend one taking place from July 18 to July 20 and weekend two on July 25 to July 27.
