Thousands of punters have started to arrive at Tomorrowland 2025, despite a huge fire destroying the main stage last night (July 16).
The incident took place last night, breaking out less than 48 hours before more than 70,000 attendees were due to attend the dance festival in Boom, Belgium. While approximately 1,000 employees were on site at the time, there were no injuries reported, although it did throw uncertainty over whether the festival would be fine to go ahead as scheduled.
Now, tens of thousands of campers have started to arrive at the site following organisers vowing to ensure the festival still goes ahead.
“It is impossible to put into words what we’re feeling,” organisers said on Instagram this morning (July 17), adding that the Orbyz main stage “wasn’t just a stage… it was a living, breathing world.”
Organisers continued, saying that they are “focused on finding solutions”, and Jurgen Callaerts, mayor of Rumst, has said that they are working on finding an alternative to the main stage as “cancelling the festival completely is the last thing we want to do” (via BBC).
Among those set to perform at the 2025 event are David Guetta, Lost Frequencies, Swedish House Mafia and Charlotte De Witte, and there are 14 other stages outside of the main stage, although they are considerably smaller.
When the fire broke out at around 6pm local time (4pm UK time), footage of the destruction was quickly shared across social media. One employee said that it felt “apocalyptic” to see the damage it was causing.
“We suddenly heard bangs and saw fire near the stage, a huge amount of fire,” they told 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.”
Some residents in the area were evacuated, and firefighters worked to prevent the fire from reaching the surrounding homes or woodland.
It isn’t yet clear why the fire broke out, although some speculate it may be an issue with pyrotechnics, as fireworks were allegedly heard by some people in the area.
Last night, organisers confirmed that the opening of the campsite this morning would be going ahead as planned, and they added they were “focused on finding solutions for the festival weekend” and working on sharing “more updates and detailed information as soon as possible”.
Many took to social media to share their shock at the scenes, including DJ Dimitri Vegas, who is scheduled to perform this year. The artist shared an image on his Instagram account with the Tomorrowland logo in the middle of a broken heart.
Others called for refunds due to the now-tumultuous circumstances, urging organisers to offer them the chance to reach out for refunds now that the main stage has been destroyed.
The main stage at Tomorrowland has been completely destroyed by a fire. pic.twitter.com/HQr5jHv2E7
— 🏁 (@concertleaks) July 16, 2025
Dronebeelden tonen totale verwoesting van hoofdpodium Tomorrowland(Belgie) 1707025 / Drone footage shows total destruction of main stage at Tomorrowland (Belgium) pic.twitter.com/u1KSzQ7hi3
— john l (@Maeestro) July 17, 2025
Les belges ne feront que m’étonner de jours en jours ! Tomorrowland va renaître de ces cendres croyais moi
— Ju Stine (@MignonJustine) July 17, 2025
Tomorrowland was supposed to light up our lives, not burn down. I’m gutted for everyone involved. 😔
— Still Learning (@Still_learner) July 16, 2025
I better be allowed to buy before everyone else next year, on your website. This is my first time experiencing your festival. Without a mainstage, it just feels like a regular festival now. How are you gonna make it right for the people? @tomorrowland #Tomorrowland
— Rayzen San (@RayzenSan) July 17, 2025
You need to cancel and refund people. This doesn’t reflect the cost of the tickets.
— TheWWizard (@EncryptedM1nd) July 17, 2025
❤️ It’s a HUGE site, can easily with some planning close half the Main stage dancing area, leaving the higher green bank for people to use to sit and chill, hold festival on the other stages as planned with some schedule changes to ensure the main headliners all still have a slot
— Mangomanbaby (@mangomanbaby) July 17, 2025
“The Belgians will never cease to amaze me day after day! Tomorrowland will rise from its ashes, believe me,” one optimistic attendee wrote on X/Twitter (translated to English), while someone else shared: “I better be allowed to buy before everyone else next year, on your website. This is my first time experiencing your festival. Without a main stage, it just feels like a regular festival now. How are you gonna make it right for the people?”
“You need to cancel and refund people. This doesn’t reflect the cost of the tickets,” a third added, while someone else chimed in with a more positive outlook, writing: “It’s a HUGE site, can easily, with some planning, close half the Main stage dancing area, leaving the higher green bank for people to use to sit and chill, hold festival on the other stages as planned with some schedule changes to ensure the main headliners all still have a slot.”
Since its launch in 2005, Tomorrowland has become one of the biggest electronic music events in the world, and spans across two weekends each year in the town of Boom in Belgium. This year’s festival is set to take place from July 18-20 and July 25-27.
