Fire Engulfs Main Stage of Belgium’s Tomorrowland Music Festival Ahead of Friday Start

 Smoke caused by a fire billows above the site of the Tomorrowland electronic music festival in Boom, northern Belgium on July 16, 2025. (AFP)
Smoke caused by a fire billows above the site of the Tomorrowland electronic music festival in Boom, northern Belgium on July 16, 2025. (AFP)
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Fire Engulfs Main Stage of Belgium’s Tomorrowland Music Festival Ahead of Friday Start

 Smoke caused by a fire billows above the site of the Tomorrowland electronic music festival in Boom, northern Belgium on July 16, 2025. (AFP)
Smoke caused by a fire billows above the site of the Tomorrowland electronic music festival in Boom, northern Belgium on July 16, 2025. (AFP)

A huge fire on Wednesday at Belgium's Tomorrowland music festival site has “severely damaged” the main stage two days before the event was due to start, organizers said.

No one was injured in the incident. Images shared on local news sites and social media showed flames and plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland.

The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, which is scheduled to start Friday, draws tens of thousands of visitors from around Europe.

“Due to a serious incident and fire on the Tomorrowland Mainstage, our beloved Mainstage has been severely damaged,” the organizers posted on the event's website. “We can confirm that no one was injured during the incident.”

The statement said the focus is now on “finding solutions” for the festival weekend. The cause of the fire was not given.



Tomorrowland Music Festival Opens after its Main Stage was Destroyed by Huge Fire

The burned main stage is seen at the Tomorrowland music festival in Boom, Belgium, Friday, July 18, 2025, two days after a huge fire destroyed the stage on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
The burned main stage is seen at the Tomorrowland music festival in Boom, Belgium, Friday, July 18, 2025, two days after a huge fire destroyed the stage on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
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Tomorrowland Music Festival Opens after its Main Stage was Destroyed by Huge Fire

The burned main stage is seen at the Tomorrowland music festival in Boom, Belgium, Friday, July 18, 2025, two days after a huge fire destroyed the stage on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
The burned main stage is seen at the Tomorrowland music festival in Boom, Belgium, Friday, July 18, 2025, two days after a huge fire destroyed the stage on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Fans roared in excitement and organizers sighed with relief as the Tomorrowland music festival kicked off Friday — just two days after a massive fire engulfed the main stage and threw one of Europe's biggest summer concert events into doubt.

Workers labored around the clock to clear out the debris from the elaborate backdrop that was consumed in Wednesday's fire.

Shouting ‘’We made it!'', the festival's opening performers, Australian electronic music group Nervo, were able to take to the main stage Friday after a last-minute scramble and slight delay. Some charred frames were still visible behind them.

No one was hurt in the fire, organizers said. The causes are being investigated.
Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world attend Tomorrowland's annual multi-day festival outside the Belgian town of Boom.

Some 38,000 people were camping at the festival site Friday, Tomorrowland spokesperson Debby Wilmsen said.

’’Maybe there are some few people that say, OK, we would like to have a refund, but it’s only like a very small percentage because most of them are still coming to the festival,” she told AP.

“It is all about unity, and I think with a good vibe and a positive energy that our festival-goers give to each other and the music we offer, I think they will still have a good time,″ she said. ’’We really tried our best.″

Australian fans Zak Hiscock and Brooke Antoniou — who traveled half the world to see the famed festival as part of a summer holiday in Europe — described hearing about the fire.

“We were sitting having dinner when we actually heard the news of the stage burning down. We were very devastated and shattered, quite upset because we travelled a long way,'' Hiscock said.

Ukrainian visitor Oleksandr Beshkynskyi shared their joy that the festival went ahead as planned.

‘’It’s not just about the one DJ or two DJs you’re looking to see, but about all the mood and about the dream being alive," Beshkynskyi said.