A fire broke out at the world-renowned EDM festival Tomorrowland in Belgium ahead of its official opening on Friday, leaving ticketholders unsure if they should attend.
Tomorrowland is slated to take place from Friday, July 18 to Sunday, July 20, as well as July 25 to 27. Across both weekends, over 600 performers are slated to take the stage, featuring EDM stars like Martin Garrix, Swedish House Mafia, David Guetta, and Fisher.
The fire broke out on Wednesday evening, and organizers confirmed that the mainstage area had been “severely damaged” and that they “are focused on finding solutions for the festival weekend.” Belgian public broadcaster VRT NWS first reported the blaze, saying firefighters arriving on scene found the elaborate, story-book structure fully engulfed and shooting plumes of smoke high above the Boom recreation area. No one was injured during the incident.
On Thursday, organizers revealed that doors to the DreamVille campsite opened at 10 a.m., and all Global Journey activities in Brussels and Antwerp are still set to go on as-planned. Their Orbyz Mainstage, however, dubbed “a creation from pure passion, imagination, and dedication,” is no longer standing.
“This wasn’t just a stage,” organizers said. “It was a living, breathing world. From the very first sketch on a blank page, to countless hours of conceptual design, artistic collaboration, engineering, crafting, building, every single piece of Orbyz carried part of our soul. But we hold on to the magic Orbyz gave us. To the dreams it carried. To the team who gave their all.”
The festival added that organizers spent the night “working on possible solutions for the Mainstage area,” noting that no other parts of the festival venue, stages, or areas were effected.
Tomorrowland spokesperson Debby Wilmsen said in a press conference that “years of love and passion have gone into building that stage,” adding that “those teams are devastated.”
“Tomorrow, 38,000 festival-goers will arrive, we’re really looking forward to that, and we’re going to give them a warm welcome,” Wilmsen said. “We’re going to make it a wonderful festival.”
Wilmsen said that “the intention is for the festival to go ahead, but we can’t do magic, so it will be without the main stage,” noting that “our production team will now do everything they can to make it truly special.”
Another update from organizers on Thursday confirmed that “hundreds of people are working tirelessly at the Mainstage area to ensure we can open the gates tomorrow.” While they noted it is a “race against time,” they assured that “we will be able to welcome everyone” on Friday, July 18.
There are currently two scenarios in place for Friday’s opening:
Scenario 1
In the first scenario, the festival grounds will be open for all visitors and all ticket types — if the Mainstage area can be secured and a new setup completed.
Scenario 2
The second scenario offers two separate areas on Friday: Dreamville and the festival grounds. In this scenario, The Gathering Stage at Dreamville will host the Mainstage artists scheduled for Friday, though DreamVille visitors will not be able to access the festival grounds. The grounds, without the mainstage, will be open to all other visitors (Friday Day Pass, Global Journey Hotel Packages, and Full Madness Pass holders).
In both scenarios, doors will open at 2 p.m., rather than 12 p.m. Organizers assured that starting Saturday, the full festival grounds will be open to all visitors and ticket types starting at 12 p.m.
Ticketholders have expressed their concerns on social media, with some calling for refunds, citing that they paid thousands of dollars for a main stage that is no longer there. Others think the festival should still proceed as-planned and don’t care if there is a main stage, as the music is all that matters.
SCAMMED. I paid for the main stage, but there is no main stage. No refund offered, no ticket postponement nothing. Prioritizing money over respecting the audience. Shameful !!!!! 😡😡😡
— DwightMK12 (@MadyDK12) July 17, 2025
Can we have an update for real? People need to sort out their travel plans / cancellations if this is not going through.
— Jas (@Jasmeet711) July 17, 2025
Would the people get a refund on their tickets ? 🙄
— Udayantha Udy (@udayantha) July 17, 2025
Ik haat dit hè! MainStage Tomorrowland weg, dat is ook waar je voor betaald maaarr neeeeee alles moet doorgaan .. als ze maar geld vangen!
Schandalig om zoveel te vragen voor tickets en als het dan affikt de andere kant op blijven kijken die dag?
Het is niet meer dus afpassen!!— Nanique (@Nanique77) July 17, 2025
I just arrived to Europe this morning and I have tickets for the second weekend, I think that the main stage of @tomorrowland is the central stone, so it’s important that you put first the people over the money
— Edu (@JaimeFlorez0108) July 17, 2025
Of course is more than MainStage but MainStage is 70% of ticket cost. I bought tickets because I wanted to see top level state and audiovisual experience. Now I got 30% of what I except 🙂 I feel sad and I know it’s a accident but I lost my money.
— nikoscyprus (@domino1999999) 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 not just garage party, you can't just cancel it, people bought plane tickets, booked houses, some take vacations😁 It's still hell of a event, even without mainstage
— WildBeastKing (@WildBeastKing) July 17, 2025
People who want a refund because the Mainstage burned down can sell there ticket to me.
If you think #Tomorrowland is only about the Mainstage, you don’t deserve to be there.— Ellen (@Ellenn_W) July 17, 2025
People like this are the reason aliens still haven’t made contact with us… How to tell me you’re a selfish snob without telling me you’re a selfish snob. Nice job, Allysa 👏 #Tomorrowland pic.twitter.com/YeVARaHuHs
— — Chief from Belgium 🇧🇪 (@ChiefXBelgium) July 16, 2025
Do you think ticketholders should be refunded? See our poll on X below:
Should #Tomorrowland refund ticketholders if there is no Main Stage?
— TicketNews (@TicketNews) July 17, 2025
This is a developing story. Stay with TicketNews for updates.
