(18 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Boom, Belgium – 18 July 2025
1. Wide pan shot of the Tomorrowland festival Main Stage damaged by fire
2. Various of workers working on making the new stage
3. Pan shot of main stage
4. Worker
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Debby Wilmsen, Tomorrowland spokesperson:
"Actually we have now 38,000 people at the festival site already camping, and they had a really good time and they are really looking forward to come here and we had like 12,000 people in Brussels and the same, so they were also yesterday here and not here but at a party in Brussels, and they were very happy to come to the festival site. So, maybe there are some few people that say, OK, we would like to have a refund, but it’s only like a very small percentage because most of them are still coming to the festival site."
6. Various of workers raising the main stage damaged by fire
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Debby Wilmsen, Tomorrowland spokesperson:
"I hope that they’re still coming and that they enjoy the festival because tomorrow it is all about unity and I think with a good vibe and a positive energy that our festival goers give to each other and the music we offer, I think they will still have a good time, so maybe they just have to experience it before, um, yeah, before judging because it’s, uh, yeah, we really tried our best."
8. Various of visitors arriving
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Zak Hiscock and Broke Antoniou, couple from Australia:
Zak: "We were sitting having dinner when we actually heard the news of the stage burning down and we were very devastated and shattered, quite upset because we travelled a long way, like we’re over here for a five week holiday, but, it’s, yeah, it was really tragic and I’m glad that they got a second plan in place."
Brooke: "We had a lot of hope that the organisation would come up with a solution."
10. Various of visitors
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Oleksandr Beshkynskyi, festival-goer from Ukraine:
"It does matter to me that the DJs come, but even if not, it wouldn’t be a great problem because the festival, it’s not just about the one DJ or two DJs you’re looking to see, but about all the mood and about the dream, being alive and united here with the people and enjoying just the music and the atmosphere as a whole."
12. Various of visitors singing
STORYLINE:
Tomorrowland festival opened its doors to visitors on Friday, as organisers planned to start the main events in the afternoon after a raging fire completely destroyed the festival’s main stage.
A huge fire broke out at the Tomorrowland music festival site in Belgium on Wednesday, but no concerts were underway and it caused no injuries, according to the organisers.
Since then, participants from all over the world have started to arrive in Belgium to attend the festival, which draws tens of thousands of visitors each year.
“Actually, we have now 38,000 people at the festival site already camping, and they had a really good time,” said Tomorrowland spokesperson Debby Wilmsen.
Organisers did not want to call the event off and announced today that the festival will go as planned.
The festival was supposed to start at 2 p.m. local time, but it is now planned to start with a couple of hours later than scheduled.
Ticket holders feared the worst when when images shared on Belgian news sites and social networks showed flames and broad plumes of gray and black smoke consuming the main stage of the venue in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, and drifting over nearby woods.
The cause of the fire has not yet been identified.
AP video by Ahmad Seir Nassiri
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