A lot can happen during concerts or music festivals, from stage malfunctions to unexpected artist behaviour. Even with the best preparation, there’s truly no telling what might unfold at large-scale events.
What was meant to be a stunning showcase of the main stage for the upcoming Tomorrowland Festival has now gone up in flames. Here’s what happened:
On Wednesday (15th July), it was reported that the main stage of the Tomorrowland Festival in Belgium — scheduled to begin this Friday (18th July) — was completely engulfed by a massive fire. According to reports, the blaze broke out at around 6pm, with one employee describing the scene as “apocalyptic”.
Photos and videos of the incident have since circulated widely on social media, showing firefighters working to extinguish the flames. “Our beloved main stage has been severely damaged,” festival organisers wrote in a statement. Fortunately, no injuries or casualties were reported. The cause of the fire has yet to be confirmed, but it is believed to be either the fireworks or a pyrotechnics malfunction.
Despite a large portion of the stage being destroyed, organisers have insisted that the festival will still go ahead over the next two weekends. “We are focused on finding solutions for the festival weekend. More updates and detailed information will be communicated as soon as possible,” said the organiser. However, whether or not the event will proceed will be determined once authorities conclude their investigation and assess whether the main stage is still safe for performers to use.
At the time of writing, organisers have yet to provide an update on whether the Tomorrowland Festival will proceed as planned. The event is one of Europe’s biggest and most highly anticipated annual music festivals, but given the extent of the damage to the main stage, it may be best to consider postponing or cancelling it for the safety of both artists and attendees.
Watch as the main stage goes up in flames:
Sources: Instagram, TheGuardian, BBC, CNN
