The world's most elaborately produced music festival: 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends in the Belgian town of Boom, with stage sets that cost more than some arena tours.
Tomorrowland has run annually since 2005 in the town of Boom, 25 kilometres south of Brussels. The festival expanded to two consecutive weekends in 2012; both sell out within minutes of the pre-sale opening in January or February, with over 400,000 total attendees across the fortnight. The production budget per edition is reputed to be one of the highest of any music festival in the world: the main Mainstage is a purpose-built theatrical structure that changes entirely each year around an announced theme, accompanied by pyrotechnics, moving parts, and a full lighting rig. The lineup runs across eight or more stages with headliners from electronic music's commercial mainstream: Hardwell, Martin Garrix, Swedish House Mafia, Armin van Buuren, and equivalent names. It is explicitly not an underground festival.
The DreamVille camping area on site is a festival within a festival: themed camping zones, communal fire pits, restaurants, and a separate evening programme. DreamVille tickets are more expensive (and harder to get) than standard entry. Many attendees choose to base themselves in Antwerp (30 minutes by train) or Brussels (40 minutes) and commute to the festival by shuttle bus. This is cheaper and gives access to the cities' restaurants and bars in the evenings when the festival music has stopped. Boom itself is a small town that fills completely with festival infrastructure in July: very little useful for non-festival purposes.
Party hostels within reach of 's main celebrations. Ranked by guest rating.
Day-by-day breakdown
Tomorrowland opens on Friday afternoon. The Mainstage begins hosting acts from early evening. Friday is the least crowded of the three festival days and the best time to explore the full site, locate the smaller stages, and establish your bearings before the weekend crowds arrive. DreamVille campers typically arrive on Thursday.
Saturday is the biggest day. The Mainstage headliner typically performs from 10pm to midnight. All smaller stages run simultaneously. The festival site at full capacity holds 85,000–90,000 people per day: navigation between stages requires planning. The Mainstage area reaches crush capacity by 9pm on Saturdays.
Sunday closes the weekend edition with a final Mainstage set ending at midnight. Shuttles back to Antwerp and Brussels depart until 2am after the close. DreamVille checkout is Monday morning. If you are travelling onwards, book Monday transport: Sunday night departures from Brussels are competitive with festival attendees heading home.
A Monday in Antwerp is well spent. The Royal Museum of Fine Arts on Leopold de Waelplaats holds one of Belgium's strongest Flemish masters collections (entry €20). The MAS museum tower on Napoleon Quay has free access to rooftop views over the Schelde. Direct trains from Antwerp Central to Brussels Airport take 30 minutes.
Pre-booked private transfers and shared shuttles for your arrival.
