Belgium’s Tomorrowland festival plans to build a new main stage after a fire completely destroyed the original platform, organizers announced on Thursday. The event, scheduled for this weekend, will begin two hours later than planned on Friday, with or without a new stage.
If a new stage is not secured, the festival will open in reduced capacity, with plans to fully reopen on Saturday. Organizers hope to have a “nice, new stage” ready by Friday, but contingency plans are in place.
Some 400,000 people are expected to attend the two-weekend event, including hundreds of artists such as David Guetta and Swedish House Mafia. Nobody was injured in Wednesday’s fire, which caused extensive damage to the site.
The local fire service has declared the site safe for visitors, and safety experts are working to determine the cause of the fire. Meetings were held on Thursday between festival organizers, safety experts, and local government officials to discuss contingency plans.
In a statement, Tomorrowland said that while it’s impossible to describe the emotions following the fire, they’re committed to making this year’s event “just as special” as previous ones. The company also acknowledged the “apocalyptic scene” reported by one employee who was working on the site when the fire broke out.
Tomorrowland has become a major electronic dance music festival, attracting fans from around the world since its 2005 launch.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpwqewyrw57o