"A ritual waiting to happen and it's been burned" – Conspiracy theories erupt as netizens react to Tomorrowland's main stage being on fire

On July 16, 2025, the main stage of the Belgian electronic dance music festival Tomorrowland went up in flames, two days before the event was scheduled to commence. The news was confirmed on the festival’s official Instagram page.

“IMPORTANT UPDATE: Due to a serious incident and fire on the Tomorrowland Mainstage, our beloved Mainstage has been severely damaged. We can confirm that no one was injured during the incident,” part of the caption read.

In the wake of the fire, videos and images have surfaced online showing the main stage engulfed in thick smoke as firefighters and other emergency responders attempt to extinguish the flames. According to Variety, the cause of the fire has not been officially disclosed.

The internet is having diverse reactions to the fire, with many coming up with conspiracy theories. For instance, X user @asonflower commented under their own post.

“The official site reads: ‘400,000 People of Tomorrow from over 200 countries.’ That's not just an extravagant stage design. That's a ritual waiting to happen, and it's been burned,” the user wrote.

@asonflower previously also pointed out that the fire was symbolic, considering the theme of this year’s festival is ‘Orbyz.’ According to the festival’s official website, ‘Orbyz’ refers to a “magical universe made of ice and full of mythical creatures, taking you along the adventures of a hidden community that rises to the surface after many years.”

Many people joined the conversation and shared similar reactions and conspiracy theories on the platform.

“This year’s #Tomorrowland music festival’s stage theme was ‘Orbyz,’ an ancient world buried in ice. It caught fire. We call that… rapid climate change,” a person wrote. “Remember the ritual they did during BURNING Man 2023? Heavily impacted by heavy rain. Today, there's massive global flooding happening. (Texas, Japan, etc). Today, a large fire engulfs the main stage at Tomorrowland. It's 690 days since the Burning Man 2023 start date!” another person wrote. “Ironic? Climate change or civil war, what is Tomorrowland trying to tell us?” a netizen asked.

Others continued to chime in with their own theories.

“SATANIC TOMORROWLAND STAGE BURNS TO THE GROUND DAYS BEFORE THE START OF THE FESTIVAL,” another netizen wrote. “I bet someone set it on fire on purpose. I recently saw some chatter online amongst people who have described Tomorrowland as some kind of satanic ritual that opens portals and changes the frequency of people’s spirits. Wild stuff,” an individual wrote. “This gave me goosebumps... had a feeling something bad was planned for Tomorrowland this year,” wrote another.

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All you need to know about this year's Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland is an EDM festival which has been happening in Boom, Belgium, since 2005. This year, the event is scheduled to take place at De Schorre over two weekends, from July 18-20 and from July 25-27. According to the website, the festival is expected to have over 400,000 attendees from over 200 countries.

The lineup for this year’s festival includes artists such as Swedish House Mafia, Dillon Francis, Alok, Charlotte de Witte, MATTN, Sara Landry, Deadmau5, David Guetta, Steve Aoki, and Eric Prydz, among others.

The festival, with the tagline “Live today, love tomorrow, unite forever,” will go on as planned despite a major fire destroying its main stage. According to an Instagram update, the DreamVille campsite will still open on July 17, 2025.

All Global Journey events in Brussels and Antwerp will also continue as scheduled. Organizers are working on solutions for the main stage shows. The event will be livestreamed worldwide on the official website, app, and One World Radio.

Apart from the Orbyz main stage, the festival also has other stages, including the Freedom Stage, Crystal Garden, Planaxis, The Great Library, and Atmosphere.

According to Euro News, organizers confirmed that the rumor on social media claiming the festival was canceled is “fake news.” Edm.com reported earlier this year that organizers released the festival's debut official comic book called The Odes of Orbyz, in sync with the 2025 theme.

Edited by Divya Singh