Just 36 hours before Tomorrowland 2025 was set to open for its first weekend, disaster struck. A massive fire that reportedly broke out during a pyrotechnics test ripped through the festival’s mainstage, reducing Orbyz, a mythical ice kingdom that was years in the making, to charred ruins within minutes. The accidental blaze cast a dark cloud over one of the world’s most iconic EDM festivals, leaving everyone asking: could the magic still go on?
Just over a week after the fire, as I stood on a hill overlooking the new mainstage, moments before some 200,000 people flooded in for Tomorrowland’s second weekend, I couldn’t help but ask myself the same question.
The new mainstage was essentially a long LED wall with parts taken from a Metallica stage, flanked by jutting truss towers and a semi-canopy that barely concealed the destruction left behind by the fire. Sven Moresi from the Tomorrowland team recalled the chaos of that night—decisions made hour by hour, with the visuals team reprogramming effects even as firefighters were still trying to quell the blaze. As he spoke, my eyes locked on a salvaged part of what was once Orbyz’s glorious ice towers, now clinging to jagged scaffolding and cranes like a remnant of resilience. It was one of those bittersweet sights that made my heart sink and swell with pride all at once.
As I watched the first festival-goers shuffle in to French House beats—a special Daybreak set by Bob Sinclar and his daughter Paloma Le Friant—under an LED canvas that simply read “Unite,” I knew I had my answer.
Devoted to the dance
As soon as you enter Tomorrowland, there’s a relentless positivity that thumps in sync with the sounds spilling out from every corner. For many, Tomorrowland isn’t a festival, but a pilgrimage, where the love for electronic music borders on reverence. And this unwavering devotion was evident even a day before Weekend 2’s official opening, when an isolated thunderstorm threatened to dampen festivities at The Gathering, Tomorrowland’s kickoff party held at its campsite, Dreamville. Despite the downpour, more than 30,000 people braved the weather to revel in the rhythm as they stomped through the soaked, mushy ground in ponchos and boots, bobbing along to the thunderous bass of surprise sets by Kaskade, Alok, and Novah. Despite the muck all around us, thousands grinned through it, their faces streaked with mud, clothes damp with drizzle and spilled beer, and fists pumping in the air. Come fire or storm, the spirit of Tomorrowland trudged on.
All the world’s a stage
A big part of Tomorrowland’s appeal is its spectacular stage production, each one a feat of intricate craftsmanship and imagination. Founded in 2005 by brothers Manu and Michiel Beers, the festival set out to bring electronic music out of gritty underground spaces and into a fantasy realm built within De Schorre in Boom, Belgium. Now in its 19th edition, Tomorrowland had 16 staggering stages, each tailored to the genre it housed—from techno and psytrance to big room, drum and bass, and hardstyle.
Each day at Tomorrowland was a discovery trail of new sounds and stages. The Great Library stage featured steampunk-esque palatial structures, 3D floating pages, and swishing star trails that felt straight out of the Hogwarts playbook. Here, I discovered Italian rapper BRESH’s brand of introspective melodic rap on Day 1, and got swept away by a lush, sunset-tinged melodic house set by Lost Frequencies on Day 2.
Then, there was Atmosphere, a custom-built tent dedicated to techno, lined with razor-thin LED strips that ignited in perfect synchrony as I bore witness to the likes of CARV, Bad Boombox, and Adam Beyer unleashing their seismic drops.
There was also The Rose Garden, where an animatronic dragon loomed large, winking and exhaling plumes of smoke as ravers moved to sounds of psytrance and high-BPM hardstyle.
At the Crystal Garden, a floating stage design inspired by an enchanted swamp, I found myself jumping uncontrollably to FISHER’s chaotic brand of electro house, with fountains erupting, luminescent lights pulsing, and pyrotechnics roaring behind him as he pumped up the the crowd with tracks like “World Hold On” with Bob Sinclair and “Take It Off” with Aatig.
But perhaps my favorite was the Freedom stage—a collaborative creation with Budweiser that served as a high-tech escape room of sound and light, anchored in a “Floating Sky” of 210 video tiles and 300 square meters of LED screens engineered to mirror the music’s every thump and twist. I lodged myself inside this raver’s sanctuary long enough to watch Eric Prydz shut it down on Day 1 with a visual spectacle of epic proportions, complete with glowing orbs, space turtles, and sci-fi robots levitating to the sound of his progressive tech house cuts.
On Day 2, ARTBAT delivered a full-blown visual onslaught as sculptural 3D figures hovered across the stage, laser rain sliced through the air, and the crowd cheered in collective awe at their electrifying renditions of tracks like Empire of the Sun’s “We Are the People” and Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know.”
One of the most memorable feats of musical mastery and shared emotion I witnessed at the Freedom Stage—and perhaps across all of Tomorrowland—was the Symphony of Unity, a performance piece featuring live classical musicians that reimagined Tomorrowland’s greatest hits into sweeping orchestral compositions. From Eric Prydz’s “Generate” to Sebastian Ingrosso’s “Payback” to Hans Zimmer’s “Tomorrowland Hymn”, each track was layered with soaring strings, delicate harp flourishes, and soul-piercing vocals that surged through the space like a cosmic cathedral of sound. Behind them, visuals of festival memories lit up the LED walls, illuminating with every crescendo before exploding into a million shards of pixels at every drop. The energy in the room shifted: eyes welled with tears as strangers swayed together in what can only be described as a fugue state. It was one of those rare moments that truly makes you realise just how much music can move the world.
Much of the thrill of Tomorrowland also came from wandering through its nooks and crannies, hoping to chance upon an entirely new stage. You might stumble into the Rave Cave, a narrow tunnel-turned-dancefloor where techno echoes off stone walls; groove to deep house and tribal sets at the Elixir Stage, a lotus-inspired gazebo perched at the edge of the water; or get locked inside The Cage, a warehouse-style pit throbbing with industrial techno. Each one felt like a secret portal into a surreal new world within the festival’s shapeshifting universe.
Several stages from previous Tomorrowland editions also returned in revamped form, including the giant conch-shaped Planaxis from the 2018 City of Planaxis theme, the harp-motif Melodia by Corona from the 2015 Secret Kingdom of Melodia theme, and the forest-ensconced, split-head CORE stage, fresh off its own world tour.
The magic is in the music
It wasn’t all dragon smoke and holographic mirrors, though. Without the bells and whistles, the main stage might have seemed like the barest of the lot. But the exuberant energy of its performers more than made up for it.
In anticipation of one of Day 1’s most coveted sets, I bolted to the Mainstage to secure a prime spot amid the 100,000-strong crowd just 20 minutes before John Summit—the bedroom DJ turned global quake-maker—ascended it. As he teased the crowd with a cheeky smile and a slow build into his viral hit “Where You Are,” boy, did he deliver. His set was a heady rush of effervescent exhilaration, layering loops of infectious tracks like “Light Years” and “Focus” into a bursting carnival of confetti and streamers—never once wiping the wide grin off his face.
It was a tough act to follow. Luckily, that task fell to seasoned pros. Enter Swedish House Mafia, the legendary electronic music supergroup comprising Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso, and Steve Angello, who delivered a high-octane set that reminded many of us why they dominated our 2010s-era mixtapes. Their performance pulsed with giddy, nostalgic joy, lighting up the sky with fireworks and synth stabs as they belted out anthems like “Don’t You Worry Child,” “Save the World” and “Reload.” You could feel the euphoric love radiating through the crowd, transcending language and cultural barriers as we danced and screeched their lyrics in unison.
What baffled me most was that even with close to 100,000 of us squished together, no one seemed to care. Strangers cheerfully fanned one another and parted ways like a magnetic sea when someone tried to squeeze past them. Among the most heartwarming sights was a group of people lifting their friend in a wheelchair above the crowd to give him a front-row view of what was unfolding on stage. It was the rare kind of togetherness that can make even a massive crowd feel like the most intimate shared experience.
Day 2 brought with it a string of hard-hitting sets. While I wasn’t able to make it back in time for underground heavyweight Anyma’s highly anticipated mainstage moment, I managed to catch the tail end of Belgian brothers Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike’s pulsating performance, just before they handed over the reins to techno queen Amelie Lens. Though I’ve seen Amelie in action a couple of times before, she took to the mainstage with an overpowering confidence that felt renewed, sending tremors down the dance floor with her signature blend of dark, pounding techno.
Come Day 3, it was clear we were in for a tear-jerker. EDM titans like Steve Aoki and Martin Garrix took over the mainstage with an appetite for delirious destruction. In one of the weekend’s most heartfelt moments, Aoki paused his usual cake-slinging antics to pay tribute to Avicii with a spin of the late DJ’s track “See You Again.” And for a brief, breathtaking stretch, thousands of ravers stood absolutely still, marinating in emotion. Garrix took that emotion a step further with a special mashup of his classic “Starlight” with Avicii’s “Waiting For Love,” giving the crowds a send-off that felt truly worthy of a finale.
Building a new tomorrow
Beyond the music and mind-bending stage production, Tomorrowland deserves credit for its sustainably crafted ecosystem, innovative tech, and impressive array of over 400 food options.
One key example of the festival’s sustainable practices is its reusable cup system, integrated with RFID technology, which allows cups to be returned at designated points throughout the venue. Each return even earns festivalgoers two Pearls, Tomorrowland’s internal currency, creating a circular reward system.
A big part of what makes the sound at Tomorrowland feel like you’re enveloped inside the music rather than just listening to it is due to its investment in cutting-edge tech like Areal. Backed by the festival’s Labs of Tomorrow initiative, Areal uses an algorithm called Upmix to turn standard stereo audio into an immersive, 3D soundscape, making every kick, synth, and vocal sound clearer and crisper.
You’ll also find food stalls and Michelin chef-curated restaurants scattered across the festival grounds, serving up everything from Tomorrowland-themed smashed burgers and butterfly-shaped Belgian waffles to vegan Balls & Glory, Belgian fries, and Thai curries, all in compostable plates. In the Papillon section, festivalgoers can recline on loungers while sipping Sola Vida—Tomorrowland’s specially crafted sparkling wine co-created with Spanish winery Vallformosa, stamped with the signature butterfly logo.
Through the Tomorrowland Foundation, the festival supports global educational and creative initiatives, partnering with organizations like Kolkata’s Ek Tara Foundation and Nepal’s Sekha to build music schools and empower underprivileged communities through the arts.
However, one of the festival’s most glaring oversights was the lack of South Asian representation on its lineup, especially at a time when countries like India are quickly emerging as power players in the global electronic music scene. For an event that prides itself on being an inclusive celebration of music, it felt like a missed opportunity to truly reflect the diversity of its audience.
Still, in a year when crisis threatened to upstage the festivities, Tomorrowland 2025 proved that its spirit was built to endure. What could have been a story of setbacks became one of strength, tireless effort, and a powerful reminder that nothing unites us quite like music can. The magic was, in fact, alive and dancing up a storm.
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