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Belgium’s Tomorrowland music festival kicked off on Friday just two days after a massive fire engulfed the main stage and threw one of Europe’s biggest summer concert events into doubt.
Workers laboured around the clock to clear out the debris from the elaborate backdrop that went up in flames on Wednesday evening.
Shouting ‘”We made it!”, the festival’s opening performers, Australian electronic music group Nervo, were able to take to the replacement main stage on Friday after a last-minute scramble and a slight delay.
Some charred framework from the original stage were visible behind them.
No one was hurt in the fire, organisers said and the cause is still being investigated.
Festival crew members worked through the night to quickly erect the new, stripped down stage in time for its first performers.
Tomorrowland spokesperson Debby Wilmsen said the new stage is “very intimate,” and includes speakers that were also used for Metallica shows.
Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world attend Tomorrowland’s annual multi-day festival outside the Belgian town of Boom.
Some 38,000 people were camping at the festival site on Friday, Wilmsen said.
“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.”
“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,” she said.
’”We really tried our best.”
Australian fans Zak Hiscock and Brooke Antoniou — who travelled half way around the world to see the famed festival as part of a summer holiday to Europe — described hearing about the fire.
“We were sitting having dinner when we actually heard the news of the stage burning down. We were very devastated and shattered, quite upset because we travelled a long way,” Hiscock said.
Ukrainian visitor Oleksandr Beshkynskyi shared their joy that the festival went ahead as planned.
“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,” Beshkynskyi said.
Tomorrowland is the world’s largest electronic music festival and is expected to attract around 400,000 people over the weekend.
Additional sources • AP