Fire has devoured the elaborate main stage of one of the world’s largest electronic music festivals in Belgium, leaving organisers scrambling before the opening weekend.
The huge ice cap-themed centrepiece of the Tomorrowland event was engulfed by flames and severely damaged on Wednesday (local time).
Astonishing footage shows towering and intense fire smothering the set as thick black plumes of smoke billow over the town of Boom.
The crackling blaze triggered what sounded like rounds of fireworks or gunshots.
Photos on social media also reveal the devastating aftermath when the massive red ball had been extinguished.
All that was left of the spectacular prop, where headline acts like Martin Garrix, Charlotte de Witte and David Guetta were to perform, was its wiry frame.
“Due to a serious incident and fire on the Tomorrowland Mainstage, our beloved Mainstage has been severely damaged,” said the festival’s website in an update to ticket holders.
“We can confirm that no one was injured during the incident.”
Organisers said they were focused on finding solutions for the upcoming opening weekend, which was due to start Friday (local time).
The campsite would still open on Thursday and activities would go ahead in Brussels and Antwerp as planned.
“More updates and detailed information will be communicated as soon as possible,” they said.
A huge amount of work and creativity goes into building Tomorrowland’s main stage, which this year appeared to be a gaping snowy mountain with wintry castle-like buildings.
This year’s theme, ‘Orbyz’, was set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice.
The festival’s website said the frozen world would reveal a hidden community that had existed under a gigantic ice cap for many years.
Tomorrowland touts itself as one of the world’s largest and most iconic electronic music festivals. It is held every year in July in Boom, Belgium.
It began in 2005 as a one-day festival with 9000 visitors.
Today, Tomorrowland stretches over two weekends, welcoming 400,000 people from around the world.
Tomorrowland caters to all genres in electronic dance music with hundreds of renowned artists performing across more than a dozen stages.
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