Organisers of the Tomorrowland music festival in Belgium are racing to rebuild the event’s main stage after it was destroyed in a fire earlier this week.
Overnight, trucks, cranes and workers arrived to reconstruct the colossal edifice, which measures 70 metres wide and 8 metres tall. Organisers said the event in Boom, Belgium, would go ahead two hours later than planned with or without a new main stage. If a new stage is not finished in time, the festival will open to a reduced capacity on Friday and open fully on Saturday.
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told a press conference that the campsite at DreamVille and festival grounds would operate separately, with main stage artists to perform at the Gathering Stage on the campsite instead, but this means campers will not be able to access the rest of the event’s grounds.
The festival was originally scheduled to unlock its gates at 12pm today (18 July) and continue into the late night on Sunday, with more than 400,000 people expected to attend over the three-day electronic music event.
Tomorrowland bosses reiterated that safety was their top priority, but that the event would not be halted and would continue its full operations by Saturday.
Some of the world’s most popular DJs are due to appear on the stage over the weekend, including Martin Garrix, David Guetta, Fisher, Swedish House Mafia and Steve Aoki.
Images shared on local news sites and social media showed flames and plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday (16 July). Fireworks apparently ready for performances were also seen exploding into the air. Nearby residents were urged to close all windows and doors until the fire was contained. No members of the public were present at the time of the blaze, but 1,000 employees were on site.
One staff member described “an apocalyptic scene” after the fire engulfed the stage.
At least three-quarters of the stage, dubbed the Orbyz Mainstage, is believed to have been damaged. A statement from Tomorrowland called the structure a “creation from pure passion, imagination, and dedication”, adding: “This wasn’t just a stage. It was a living, breathing world.”
Dozens of emergency teams were seen rushing through the festival grounds just after 6pm on the day of the blaze in an attempt to extinguish the flames and evacuate those inside the grounds. The cause of the fire has not yet been confirmed.
