'Devastating' fire destroys main stage at major festival just two days before it was due to begin

Tomorrowland was plunged into chaos two days before it was set to begin as a huge fire decimated the festival's main stage.

Horrifying footage captured the moment ferocious flames began to engulf the intricately designed set, which is considered to be the epicenter of the dance music event in Belgium.

The blaze tore through the main stage - where up to 70,000 people can gather at one time to watch some of the world's biggest DJs perform - on Wednesday (16 July) afternoon, before spreading to nearby woodland.

The fate of Tomorrowland 2025 briefly hung in the balance, as the fire wreaked havoc just 48 hours before gates were set to open to welcome upwards of 400,000 people over the next two weeks.

The festival is set to begin in the town of Boom, south of Antwerp, on Friday (18 July) and continues until Sunday (20 July), before revellers then return again next weekend to do it all again.

Organisers announced that the 'beloved main stage had been severely damaged' in a statement last night, which left a lot of fans questioning whether the event was going ahead at all.

The extravagantly-designed main stage has now been decimated by the fire (X)

Thankfully, nobody was hurt during the blaze and Tomorrowland confirmed it will begin welcoming guests from today (17 July).

A statement from the festival - which is set to host hundreds of artists including David Guetta, Amelie Lens, Solomun, Sub Focus, Steve Aoki and Swedish House Mafia - explained: "Due to a serious incident and fire on the Tomorrowland Mainstage, our beloved Mainstage has been severely damaged.

"We can confirm that no one was injured during the incident. We can announce that, DreamVille (campsite) will open tomorrow as planned and will be ready for all DreamVille visitors.

"All Global Journey activities in Brussels and Antwerp will take place as planned. We are focused on finding solutions for the festival weekend (Friday – Saturday – Sunday).

"More updates and detailed information will be communicated as soon as possible."

The main stage had been designed to embody the theme of 'Orbyz' for this year's edition of Tomorrowland, with organisers explaining it is 'set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice' which is 'full of mythical creatures, glowing ice sculptures, and an atmosphere of wonder and intrigue'.

Tomorrowland said no one was hurt in the huge blaze (X)

'An apocalyptic scene'

One employee who had been working at the Tomorrowland site said the fire engulfing the main stage was 'an apocalyptic scene'.

"We suddenly heard bangs and saw fire near the stage, a huge amount of fire," the unidentified worker told Het Nieuwsblad newspaper, as per the BBC.

"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."

Festivalgoers have began arriving at the festival in Belgium today (Belga/AFP via Getty Images)

'Years to build'

In the latest update, Tomorrowland said people had began to arrive at the campsite, while paying tribute to the scorched main stage.

"It’s impossible to put into words what we’re feeling," the statement said. "The Orbyz Mainstage of Tomorrowland Belgium 2025, a creation born from pure passion, imagination, and dedication, is no more.

"This wasn’t just a stage. 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. We spent the night working on possible solutions for the Mainstage area. No other parts of the festival venue, stages or areas were impacted.

"All detailed info about the festival weekend (Friday – Saturday – Sunday) will follow in the upcoming hours."

The festival's spokesperson, Debby Wilmsen, previously explained years of hard work had been put into the main stage.

"Our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful," she said. "That's a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated."

The cause of the fire currently remains unclear.