Tomorrowland 2025: theme, dates and the Mainstage fire

What was Tomorrowland 2025?

Tomorrowland 2025 was the 19th edition of Tomorrowland Belgium, with the theme Orbyz and two festival weekends in July. It was also the year the Mainstage burned down two days before opening. Here is the year in numbers, based on Tomorrowland’s official history page and press material:

Tomorrowland itself calls 2025 its “most memorable edition” on the Down Memory Lane history page. Hard to argue with that.

When was Tomorrowland 2025?

Tomorrowland 2025 took place from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 July and from Friday 25 to Sunday 27 July 2025. The dates came out early, and the rest of the year followed a clear sequence from announcement to fire to festival:

Note how early everything happened. Almost eight months passed between the date announcement and the festival, and tickets were gone by early February.

What was the Tomorrowland 2025 theme?

The 2025 theme was Orbyz, presented on 28 November 2024 together with the dates. According to EDM is Life, the story was about a people living hidden beneath a giant ice cap. As the ice melts because of global warming, a powerful source of light and energy is revealed in the form of red rocks and crystals.

The Mainstage was built as an ice world around that story. That was the stage that burned, so most people at the festival in 2025 never saw the Orbyz Mainstage as intended. The theme lived on anyway: Tomorrowland Winter in Alpe d’Huez had a stage called ORBYZ in March 2026, according to Tomorrowland’s own recap of Winter 2026.

Every theme from The Tree of Life in 2011 to today is listed in Tomorrowland themes by year.

What happened when the Mainstage burned in 2025?

The Orbyz Mainstage caught fire on Wednesday 16 July 2025, two days before the festival was due to open. Tomorrowland’s history page says the fire broke out “during the final stages of construction and rehearsals”, while the stage was being finished and rehearsals were running.

This is confirmed by several sources:

• Nobody was injured, according to DJ Mag and Mixmag.
• The Mainstage was destroyed, while the rest of the site was unaffected according to Mixmag.
• DreamVille opened as planned on Thursday 17 July.
• The festival opened on Friday 18 July with gates at 14:00 and an alternative Mainstage from 16:00, according to Mixmag and Beatportal.

According to Mixmag, after an inspection by the local authorities Tomorrowland had two options: finish a new Mainstage with only twelve hours to go, or separate the campers from day visitors and move the Mainstage programme to DreamVille. It chose the first. The decision came just after noon on the Friday under the heading “WE WILL UNITE”, and the message UNITE set the tone for the whole festival.

What caused the fire?

The cause has not been officially confirmed in the sources we checked. In July 2026, DJ Mag and Mixmag reported, citing the Belgian paper HLN, that an ethanol leak while subcontractors were testing fire bowls for the stage’s pyro show may have started the fire. Tomorrowland’s spokesperson replied that the risk analysis confirmed the safety procedures were already well organised. That is as far as the facts go.

What did the replacement stage look like?

The replacement stage was much smaller than the Orbyz stage: about a third of the size, built in about 36 hours. That is according to the trade magazine IQ, which also lists who built it. Stageco, Pixelscreen and Prismax handled the construction, PRG the lighting, and Phlippo Productions and Noizboyz the sound. The new stage stood in front of the charred remains of the Orbyz Mainstage.

Mixmag described it as a simple DJ booth backed by a wide LED screen. Among the first acts to play it on the Friday were Swedish House Mafia, alongside Hardwell, Armin van Buuren and John Summit. So for Scandinavian fans, a Swedish trio was on the makeshift Mainstage on day one.

According to EDMTunes, the same stage stayed in place for Weekend 2, with small additions such as visuals and props depending on the artist.

Did Metallica save Tomorrowland?

Partly, if the reporting is right. According to HLN, as reported by IQ and Rolling Stone, parts from the European leg of Metallica’s M72 World Tour were airlifted overnight from storage in Austria. Tomorrowland spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told IQ that the stage included speakers previously used at Metallica’s 2024 shows.

But Metallica did not build the stage. Several companies in staging, lighting, sound and screens did the work, and according to Tomorrowland’s own statement its teams were working day and night. It is fairer to say that Metallica’s touring gear was an important piece of the puzzle.

Did Tomorrowland 2025 sell out?

Yes. Tomorrowland 2025 sold out after the global sale on Saturday 1 February 2025, according to the Brussels Times and DJ Mag. The pattern repeated a year later, when 2026 sold out on the day of the Worldwide Ticket Sale, 31 January 2026.

Ticket prices for 2025 are not in our verified data, so we give no figures for that year. For comparison, these are the 2026 prices for the most common tickets:

Prices are per person and exclude the Treasure Case fee, which in 2026 was EUR 22 within the EU and EUR 31 for the rest of the world (Norway is outside the EU). Conversions use the ECB reference rates of 14 October 2026: SEK 11.16, NOK 10.60 and DKK 7.48 per euro.

How did the rest of Tomorrowland 2025 go?

Despite the fire, 2025 was a full festival. According to Tomorrowland, more than 400,000 people came over two weekends, with 16 stages and more than 850 artists. The livestream reached 193 million views. The following year the figure rose to 233 million.

The weather was wetter than in 2026. The Belgian weather service KMI measured 80.6 mm of rain on 14 days in July 2025 at Uccle, about 27 km from Boom, with a mean temperature of 19.4 °C. July 2026, by contrast, was dry and warm.

Outside Belgium, Tomorrowland Brasil 2025 also took place, at Parque Maeda in Itu. Mainstage sets from 2025 and earlier can be watched afterwards, and where to find them is covered in our Tomorrowland livestream guide.

What does 2025 mean if you want to go in 2027?

The fire did not change how you get to Tomorrowland. But 2025 and 2026 show clearly how early everything is decided. These are the practical lessons:

1. Watch for the dates in late November. The 2025 dates came on 28 November 2024 and the 2026 dates on 4 December 2025. As of 9 November 2026, the dates and theme for 2027 have not been announced. We will update our Tomorrowland 2027 page when they are.
2. Pre-register as soon as it opens. Pre-registration is required for every sale, and in both years tickets were gone by early February. The full process is on our Tomorrowland tickets page.
3. Pack for rain. July 2025 had 14 days with rain at Uccle, so a rain jacket and spare socks are not overkill.
4. Hold off on travel until the dates are out. Flights from Stockholm, Oslo or Copenhagen to Brussels are best booked once you know which weekend you have.

How 2026 went, with the Consciencia theme and the dry heat, is covered in Tomorrowland 2026. The full story since the first edition in 2005 is in Tomorrowland history.