A major fire has engulfed the main stage of the Tomorrowland festival in Belgium just 48 hours before opening. With 400,000 fans expected and top DJs like David Guetta and Swedish House Mafia set to perform, organizers scramble for last-minute solutions. Here’s what we know so far.
A fire has destroyed the main stage at the iconic Tomorrowland festival in Belgium, just two days before the global event was scheduled to open.
“Our beloved main stage has been severely damaged,” festival organizers announced on Wednesday evening in a somber statement.
Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident. The cause of the fire remains unknown at this time.
The world-renowned electronic dance music festival is set to begin on Friday in the town of Boom, located just south of Antwerp. The event is expected to draw a crowd of 400,000 attendees over two weekends, with hundreds of artists on the lineup.
Big-name performers such as David Guetta, Lost Frequencies, Swedish House Mafia, and Charlotte De Witte were scheduled to take the main stage.
The blaze broke out around 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT) on Wednesday. Videos quickly surfaced on social media, showing plumes of thick grey smoke billowing from the partially completed main stage.
An employee who was working on the construction site at the time described the moment the fire started: “We suddenly heard bangs and saw fire near the stage, a huge amount of fire,” the unnamed individual told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.
“We were just putting the finishing touches on it. One more day and it would be finished. Four weeks of work… gone in half an hour,” the worker added, calling the scene “apocalyptic.”
Emergency crews rushed to the scene and are continuing efforts to prevent the flames from spreading to nearby homes and wooded areas. Some residents in the vicinity have been evacuated as a precaution.
Despite the devastation, organizers posted an update on the festival’s website stating that the campsite would still open on Thursday as originally planned. Their current focus is on “finding solutions for the festival weekend.”
The event will proceed as scheduled but without the main stage, the statement concluded.
