Fire Engulfs on the main stage of Tomorryland Music Festival
Tens of thousands of campers have arrived in Tomorrowland, Belgium. The day after the fire destroyed the festival’s main stage.
The festival organizers claim that the event in the booming town south of Antwerp continued without a stage, adding that it was “focused on finding solutions.”
No one was injured in the blaze on Wednesday evening, and experts are working to determine the cause.
The Electronic Dance Music Festival is scheduled to start on Friday, with 400,000 people scheduled to attend over two weeks over the weekend.
Hundreds of artists will be performing, including David Guetta, Lost Frequencies, Swedish House Mafia and Charlotte de Witte.
Local firefighters have declared the site safely, and a decision will be made on whether to destroy the structure before the festival begins on Friday.
The campground known as the Dreamville has opened and so far organizers say this weekend’s events will continue.
In his latest Instagram post Thursday, Tomorrowland said: “It’s impossible to put into words what we feel.”
Orbyz’s main stage added, “It wasn’t just a stage… I was living in the world of breath.”
Organizers said they worked all night to come up with a solution. A meeting was held with safety experts and local government members Thursday morning to discuss the emergency response plan.
The mayor of Ramst, just north of the boom, told local media there would be another meeting in the afternoon to discuss more ideas for main stage alternatives.
“Canceling the festival entirely is the last thing we want to do,” Jurgen Callaerts said.
The festival has 14 other stages, all of which are much smaller than the main stage.
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The fire began on Wednesday around 16:00 local time (16:00 GMT). A video posted on social media showed dark grey smoke that engulfed the stage.
Some residents were evacuated as firefighters worked to stop the flames from reaching nearby homes and forests.
One employee who worked at the site described the “apocalyptic scene” when the fire broke out.
“We suddenly heard our bangs, we saw fire near the stage, we saw a ton of fire,” an unknown individual told the Het Niwasblad newspaper.
“We were putting the finishing touch on it. Another day, it’s going to be finished. Four weeks of work… It disappeared in 30 minutes.”
Starting in 2005, Tomorrowland became the world’s largest electronic dance festival, attracting music fans from all continents.
