The first festivalgoers have been arriving at Dreamville, Tomorrowland's official camping site, just hours after a fire destroyed the event's main stage, its crown jewel, on Wednesday evening.
As widespread speculation spreads about the electronic dance music festival's potential cancellation, there are still no clear answers. Tomorrowland organisers said calling off the event is "the last thing they want," but they're still searching for solutions.
The festival's production and creative teams are working in close consultation with safety experts and government departments, Tomorrowland spokesperson Debby Wilmsen said on Thursday morning in an interview with Belgium's Radio 1.
"It is too early to say exactly what we are going to be able to do, but we are going to have to come up with a creative solution. However, the fire and police departments have the last word when it comes to safety, and we always listen to that," she noted.
The governor of the province of Antwerp, Cathy Berx, is still hopeful that the festival will go ahead as planned, Flemish public broadcaster VRT reported.
"I am confident that Tomorrowland, despite the terrible setback, will reconcile creativity with the safety of festival-goers and employees," she said.
A team of 32 artists from 10 different countries brought the stage to life over the course of two years. The construction of the stage itself began at the end of May. No other stages or areas of the festival venue were impacted by the fire.
Tomorrowland wrote in a statement that the Orbyz Mainstage was a "creation from pure passion, imagination, and dedication."
"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," the statement further read.
Tomorrowland is one of the world's largest EDM festivals, attracting a global crowd of music lovers each year across two weekends. Last year's edition welcomed 400,000 people.
No festival-goers were on site when the fire broke out and none of the roughly 1,000 employees were hurt while taking part in preparations for the opening weekend.
An investigation into the cause of the blaze is ongoing.
