Shock and sadness as Tomorrowland music festival opens after fire

Shocked, sad but determined to dance, tens of thousands of electronic music enthusiasts started to arrive at Tomorrowland in Belgium Thursday, a day after the festival's main stage went up in flames.

Organisers said the event, which was expected to draw 400,000 people over two weekends, would go ahead after the massive blaze was put out.

But the first DJs would not begin performing until 2:00 pm (1200 GMT) Friday at the earliest, two hours later than originally planned, the organisers announced.

The festival has 15 other stages spread over 34 hectares of land in Boom, northern Belgium, which were not affected by the fire.

But its main stage, due to host dozens of DJs including the likes of David Guetta, Lost Frequencies and Steve Aoki, "is no more", organisers said.

"It's impossible to put into words what we're feeling," they said in a statement. "We spent the night working on possible solutions."

Images of the blaze circulated widely on social media, showing flames tearing apart the impressive set design depicting a frozen fairytale kingdom, with a giant ice-covered lion, castles and snow peaks.

All that remained of the 160-metre wide, 45-metre high set up on Thursday was the charred scaffolding.

"This is heartbreaking", Belgian DJ Charlotte de Witte wrote to her almost four million followers on Instagram.

- 'We almost cried' -

About 40,000 people were expected to spend the festival's first night at the "DreamVille" campsite Thursday.

"It was so sad, we almost cried, it was horrible," Marie, a festival-goer who gave only her first name, told AFP as she arrived on site with her rucksack and camping equipment.

"But we're glad it's still happening, we're in the mood, and Tomorrowland is a big family." 

Several of the planes chartered for the event have already landed in Belgium, and events planned in Brussels and Antwerp to welcome visitors from all over the world were going ahead as planned.

"There's no main stage, but it's better than nothing," said Giulio, who travelled from Italy with a small group of friends.

The causes of the blaze were not yet clear. Some witnesses said they heard fireworks, possibly launched as a test, going off around the time the fire broke out. 

The Antwerp public prosecutor's office said Wednesday it has opened an accidental fire investigation.

Founded 20 years ago by two Flemish brothers in a country that pioneered the genre, Tomorrowland has become one of the world's largest electronic music festivals.

The festival relocates to Brazil in October, and a winter edition is held every year in the Alpe d'Huez ski resort in France.

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