Tomorrowland festival opens despite massive fire destroying main stage

Belgium’s electronic music festival Tomorrowland is going ahead this weekend despite the devastating fire that destroyed its iconic main stage on Wednesday evening.

Festival organisers are currently working on two different scenarios for hosting the 200,000 festivalgoers attending the festival in Boom, south of Antwerp this weekend. A further 200,000 are due to arrive from 25 to 27 July.

Their first solution is to install a new main stage on the original site that would open at 14.00 today instead of 12.00. If this is not possible, they will delay the full opening of the festival until Saturday. Ticket holders would be able to visit the other festival stages. "There is still a lot of work to be done for this Plan A," organisers pointed out.

If they cannot set up a new main stage, Plan B is to delay the full opening of the festival until Saturday. Festivalgoers would still be able to enjoy the venue's other stages from Friday. All artists scheduled for the main stage would move to the Dreamville venue.

Hundreds of people are working tirelessly to ensure the gates open safely, said management. “It's a race against time, but we're doing it together, with the best people in the world."

Firefighters confirmed that everything was being done to ensure the safety of the festival.

Devastating fire

It was late on Wednesday afternoon that a billowing black cloud of smoke arose above the spectacular set that forms the main stage of the world-famous festival, while the sound of fireworks going off was heard. Flames engulfed the entire structure.

Firefighters were quicky on the scene: "We were faced with a very large fire. We mobilised about a hundred firefighters and dozens of ladder trucks, water tanks and fire trucks. We also received assistance from the Province to secure the rest of the area,” they said.

Despite the blaze devastating the main stage just two days before the festival’s opening, organisers issued an optimistic message: “But, we hold on to the magic Orbyz gave us. To the dreams it carried. To the team who gave their all.”

Brussels Airlines flying in festivalgoers

The first party flight of the year - SN1687 from Ibiza - landed at Brussels Airport, with 180 festivalgoers, soundtracked by Belgian DJ Nina Black, announced Brussels Airlines in a statement expressing its support for the festival.

“We stand united with the organisers, crew, and People of Tomorrow, confident in their resilience to preserve the festival’s spirit and deliver a truly magical experience once again,” said the airline, which is transporting over 25,000 Global Journey travellers from 165 countries.

The Ibiza flight was just one of seven exclusive party flights departing from cities like Barcelona, Copenhagen and Vienna.

Tomorrowland also offers Global Journey itineraries by train, bus and even bike for the world to reach the festival site in Belgium.

Photos: ©Tomorrowkand; ©Vrt; ©Brussels Airlines