The main stage of the Belgian dance festival Tomorrowland went up in flames on Wednesday evening. According to the organization, the event in Boom, near Antwerp, will proceed as planned on Friday. How the festival will be organized exactly is still unclear. Here’s what we know now.
The fire on the main stage started shortly after 6:00 PM on Wednesday. The local fire department cannot yet say anything about the cause of the fire.
Fireworks shows usually take place at the main stage. Images of the fire showed fireworks exploding. A spokesperson for the Rivierenland Fire Department declined to comment further on this at a hastily called press conference on Wednesday evening.
However, the fire department said that the fire on the main stage was nearly impossible to fight. “We tried to extinguish the fire. But as soon as you realize it’s not working, you have to limit the damage to the rest of the festival grounds. That’s what we did,” the spokesperson said.
The other stages on the festival grounds were not damaged. However, the fire caused small fires elsewhere, including in a house in a street behind the main stage. The fire department was present on the festival grounds with ten fire trucks and about a hundred firefighters.
Tomorrowland wants all major acts to perform after fire
The fire department released the festival grounds on Thursday morning, according to HLN and VRTNWS. There were no new fires in the night from Wednesday to Thursday.
There were no injuries. Tomorrowland is one of the most popular festivals in the Benelux and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, spread over two weekends. The first festival weekend starts on Friday. The organization expects about 38,000 visitors despite the fire.
“We are going to make it a great festival,” said a Tomorrowland spokesperson at the press conference on Wednesday evening. How the festival will be organized exactly is still unclear. “We will have to see how that can be done with the authorities and experts.”
Tomorrowland wants the performances of all the big names scheduled to appear on the main stage to go ahead, the Tomorrowland spokesperson told news agency ANP on Wednesday evening. This group certainly includes the Dutch DJ Martin Garrix, who was scheduled to be on the main stage on Friday evening.
“We are now working with experts and security services to map out what is possible,” the spokesperson said. “We will have to change things around. But the intention is that all the big artists will perform, including Martin Garrix.” The organization hopes to provide more clarity on this on Thursday.
‘Cancellation was never an option’
According to the spokesperson, cancellation was “never an option.” But on Wednesday evening, the organization could not completely rule out that the festival would not go ahead if the authorities asked them to. Now that the fire department has released the festival grounds, cancellation no longer seems to be an issue.
Tomorrowland announced on Wednesday evening that the campsite will open as planned on Thursday. The festival will take place from Friday on the festival grounds in Boom.
The Antwerp Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the incident, which has been classified as unintentional arson, reports Het Laatste Nieuws. Experts will investigate the fire on site.