Tomorrowland will continue despite its main stage burning to the ground just a day before the massively popular EDM festival in Belgium was set to begin.
The incident occurred on Wednesday, 16th July, with organisers confirming in a statement shared on Instagram that “Due to a serious incident and fire on the Tomorrowland Mainstage, our beloved Mainstage has been severely damaged.” Fortunately, no injuries or casualties were reported in the blaze.
Despite this significant setback, Tomorrowland is determined to proceed with its planned events. The DreamVille campsite will open on Thursday, July 17th, with several events and performances scheduled to take place. Additional events planned in Brussels and Antwerp will also continue “as planned.”
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At a press conference (as per Rolling Stone), Tomorrowland spokesperson Debby Wilmsen expressed the emotional impact of the disaster: “Years of love and passion have gone into building that stage. Those teams are devastated.” However, she maintained an optimistic outlook, adding, “Tomorrow, 38,000 festival-goers will arrive, we’re really looking forward to that, and we’re going to give them a warm welcome. We’re going to make it a wonderful festival.”
Wilmsen confirmed that all other Tomorrowland stages remain “intact” and stated, “The intention is for the festival to go ahead. But we can’t do magic, so it will be without the main stage. Our production team will now do everything they can to make it truly special.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Some videos shared online captured what sounded like fireworks popping in the background as firefighters worked to contain the flames. Sources suggested to Gazet van Antwerpen that something may have gone wrong during testing of the main stage’s fireworks cannons.
Local firefighter François van den Eynde told reporters that the blaze “spread very quickly,” likely due to the “materials used” in the stage construction. “Despite all our resources, it was impossible to stop something like that,” he explained. “We tried to extinguish the fire, but as soon as you realize you’re not succeeding, you have to limit the damage to the rest of the festival site. That’s what we did. Everything is under control.”
Over its 20-year history, Tomorrowland has grown to become one of the world’s largest and most popular music festivals, with last year’s event attracting approximately 400,000 attendees. The 2025 lineup features numerous high-profile EDM stars, including Swedish House Mafia, David Guetta, Steve Aoki, Dillon Francis, Deadmau5, and Eric Prydz.
The festival is scheduled to run from July 18th-20th, with a second weekend planned for July 24th-27th. Organisers have promised to communicate more updates and detailed information as soon as possible regarding the solutions for the festival weekend.
