Organizers borrowed components from Metallica’s touring set-up and worked around the clock to ensure minimal delay, after the main stage was destroyed by fire.
Electronic dance music event Tomorrowland went ahead as planned over the weekend, despite a fire destroying the main stage less than 48 hours before the festival was due to start.
A replacement stage was constructed in just over a day, using significant components from Metallica’s M72 tour stage.
Production company Stageco, which has been responsible for building the main stages at the Belgian festival for years, leveraged its relationship with the US heavy metal band to arrange for its structural elements and speaker arrays to be transported from a storage depot in Austria by air and road.
With cranes working to clear the debris and charred remains in the background, Stageco and partners constructed a downsized version of the 160m-wide and 45m-tall original stage, which was about 70m wide and 8m high.
The sound system and LED displays were provided by Lier and Pixel Screen respectively, with the companies working around the clock to ensure everything was ready in time.
Other partners involved in the overnight rebuild included US-based PRG, which provided the lighting and supported the AV coordination; content creator Prismax; and Phlippo Productions and the Antwerp-based Noizboyz, which handled the audio set-up.
The action on the new main stage began four hours later than originally billed, while the opening of the festival gates and the performances on the other 15 stages were delayed by two hours.
The rebuilt stage was described as more intimate and minimal than the intended original, with the remnants of the destroyed stage behind the new one creating a striking visual contrast and symbolising resilience.
Investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing. Some reports have speculated that it could have been started by pyrotechnics being tested during stage preparations, but this has not been confirmed by fire officials or investigators.
The theme of this year’s original main stage was ‘the magical universe of ice Orbyz’, and it comprised 2,120 decorative elements, including 65 water fountains and two waterfalls.
The elements were constructed using polystyrene, plywood, polyurethane foam, sealant, wood glue and modelling paste. Although the polystyrene was sprayed with polyurea to make it virtually non-flammable, untreated areas remain weak spots.
As fire-prevention advisor Tim Renders told the VRT NWS podcast Het kwartier: “If you build an entire structure out of polystyrene, polyurethane foam and plywood, all it takes is a small spark.”
“The spark could have come from fireworks incorporated into the stage, by work being carried out or be the result of a technical failure,” he added.
