Fire ravages Tomorrowland’s iconic main stage

What’s a pageant and not using a little bit of drama? Effectively, Tomorrowland 2025 has served up sufficient to final the complete summer season—and the doorways haven’t even opened but! On Wednesday evening, simply 48 hours earlier than the primary beat was purported to drop, the world’s most well-known digital music pageant had its important stage go up in flames. And never just a bit flare-up, both—the entire thing was left trying like a barbecue gone horribly fallacious.

Phrase unfold like wildfire (no pun meant). For those who’re one of many hundreds who spent months snagging tickets, you most likely felt your coronary heart cease on the first footage on-line—towering flames licking the stage, plumes of smoke hanging over Increase, and firefighters darting out and in. There was a mad rush of messages: “Is the pageant cancelled?” “What occurred?” “Do I nonetheless pack my glitter and bucket hat?”

No Accidents – Only a large headache for organisers

Let’s get the large information out of the way in which: nobody was harm. The one actual casualties had been a load of wooden, lights, and an entire lot of pyrotechnics. The fireplace brigade had been absolute heroes, getting issues beneath management earlier than anybody may get shut. However let’s be trustworthy: seeing the long-lasting stage, normally a jaw-dropping piece of artwork, left as a blackened skeleton, was a punch within the intestine for music followers all over the place.

Nonetheless, organisers moved shortly to calm everybody down. Few hours later, the phrase was out: Tomorrowland is NOT cancelled. The DreamVille campsite is opening on Thursday as deliberate, the pre-parties in Brussels and Antwerp are a go, and—better of all—the pageant will go on. If anybody can pull off a miracle important stage rebuild, it’s this lot.

How did the hearth begin? Pyro suspicions and native panic

So, what really occurred? The brief reply: we don’t know but. Native reviews counsel it might need began with pyrotechnics used within the stage setup. The fireplace unfold shortly—traditional pageant luck—and earlier than lengthy, even a little bit of close by woodland was caught up within the chaos. At one level, police helicopters noticed one other scorching spot close to the location. As if that wasn’t sufficient, there are rumours {that a} stray firework landed on a home, forcing some households to depart their houses for just a few hours.

Cue a sea of pictures and movies popping up throughout social media—large flames, thick smoke, and loads of anxious neighbours. The Belgian authorities took no probabilities, sending out B-Alert notifications telling individuals to remain indoors and shut the home windows.

The get together should go on, even when the principle stage seems to be a bit totally different

Now, anybody who’s been to Tomorrowland is aware of the principle stage is greater than a backdrop—it’s the beating coronary heart of the pageant, the stuff of legend. Shedding it, simply days earlier than opening, is about as aggravating because it will get for organisers. However truthfully, if there’s one factor that unites the Tomorrowland crowd, it’s the idea that nothing can cease the music. Not a freak hearth, not a rainstorm, not even a worldwide pandemic.

So what now? The pageant crew is scrambling, calling in each knowledgeable they’ll discover, and promising to have one thing prepared for Friday. Will or not it’s the most important, flashiest stage on this planet? Possibly not this yr. However in the event you’re heading there this weekend, deliver your good vibes, your endurance, and perhaps a bit further glitter—Tomorrowland remains to be occurring, and if something, it’ll be much more memorable.

One factor’s for certain: you’ll have a narrative to inform. “Keep in mind the yr the stage burned down, and the entire pageant carried on anyway?” Now, that’s the spirit.