Massive fire destroys main stage at music festival site in Belgium Tomorrowland in flames / photo

A major fire has engulfed the iconic main stage of the world-renowned Tomorrowland electronic music festival just days before its scheduled opening on July 18.

“Due to a serious incident and fire on the Tomorrowland Mainstage, our beloved Mainstage has been severely damaged,” festival organisers said in a statement on July 16 evening, Caliber.Az reports, citing the American media outlet CNN.

“We can confirm that no one was injured during the incident,” they added.

Footage shared online showed large plumes of thick black smoke rising from the festival grounds in Boom, Belgium, with fireworks seen and heard in the background as the blaze raged.

According to Belgian public broadcaster VRT, the main stage has been almost completely destroyed. Emergency services responded quickly but struggled to bring the fire under control as of Wednesday night.

While no festival-goers were on-site at the time of the incident, approximately 1,000 staff members were present. They have since been safely evacuated, VRT reported.

Tomorrowland spokesperson Debby Wilmsen said the fire has left many staff members heartbroken after years of effort went into designing and building the main stage. “A lot of workers were devastated to see the main stage destroyed given that it took years to build, with so much love and passion,” she said.

Local police confirmed the fire in a post on X (formerly Twitter), urging people to avoid the area and “stay away from the smoke” while making room for emergency services.

The cause of the fire remains unknown, VRT added.

Tomorrowland, one of the largest and most famous electronic dance music festivals in the world, was expected to kick off its first weekend on July 17, drawing tens of thousands of attendees from across the globe. Organisers have not yet commented on how the incident will affect the event’s schedule.

By Khagan Isayev