Tomorrowland Must Follow New Safety Protocol Following 2025 Fire

In the absence of Belgian or Flemish fire protocols, local authorities have introduced new guidelines ahead of Tomorrowland 2026.

The Mainstage fire that erupted mere days before Tomorrowland 2025 took place exposed the risks associated with deploying pyrotechnics at large-scale festivals. In light of the incident, the Belgian municipalities of Boom and Rumst have implemented new protocols to prevent another blaze.

In December, investigations suggested that the fires spread to the mainstage structure from fire bowls, and that fireworks had been stored nearby despite regulations requiring greater distance from any open flame. The local authorities’ new guidelines establish additional parameters. Having resulted from a comprehensive risk analysis conducted by team at the University of Antwerpthey highlight the biggest blind spots of previous guidances.

Namely, the new protocols address factors like audience flows, emergency service access, and stage safety. They call for the risk analysis team to weigh in on the structural integrity of anything organizers build, in addition to assessing their firework inventory and pyrotechnics site plan.

Neither the Belgian nor Flemish federal governments have existing protocols for fire prevention around large-scale festivals. For this reason, Boom and Rumst are working jointly on the new plan, as the De Schorre event site where Tomorrowland takes place each year is located on the border separating the two municipalities.

When Tomorrowland debuted in 2005, it drew a relatively modest 10,000 attendees who came for performances by the likes of Armin van Buuren, Felix Da Housecat, and Coone. Recent editions draw upwards of 400,000 attendees, with more than 850 performers spread across 16 stages.

Following the 2025 blaze, organizers managed to build a stand-in mainstage in less than 48 hours, just in time for the festival gates to open on schedule. They did so with the help of staging elements previously used for Metallica’s WorldWired Tour.

As long as Tomorrowland organizer We Are One World manages to adhere to the new guidelines, the 2026 edition of the festival will run from July 17-19 and 24-26.