An accidental ethanol leak by a subcontractor is the suspected cause of the devastating fire that destroyed Tomorrowland’s Mainstage in 2025, according to a report from Het Laatste Nieuws citing sources close to the ongoing investigation.Ad 0:00 Click for sound 0:00 / 0:00 The Dutch outlet, the largest newspaper in Flanders, claimed the highly flammable substance spilled onto the stage while workers were testing fire bowls.
The blaze erupted on July 16 just 48 hours before Tomorrowland’s gates were scheduled to open, and it ultimately consumed the festival’s towering “Orbyz” stage, which took two years to build.Emergency personnel extinguished the flames without any reported casualties, allowing construction teams to erect a replacement structure and proceed with the festival as planned.
Tomorrowland acknowledged the newly reported findings while defending their emergency protocols.“The fire will always remain a part of Tomorrowland’s history.
We are very aware of that,” Tomorrowland spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told EDM.com in an emailed statement.“Of course, we never want to experience anything like this again, but the risk analysis also confirmed that our safety procedures were already very well organized.” Wilmsen is referring to a formal assessment commissioned by Tomorrowland and conducted by the University of Antwerp, which concluded that the crowd would have remained unharmed even if the festival had been actively underway.
In emergency situations, visitors could “quickly reach a safe area and that even in exceptional scenarios evacuation times remain within the established safety standards,” according to the report.Scroll to continue more from edm King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Announce NYC “Rave Shows” “We continuously evaluate our operations and implement additional measures wherever necessary,” Wilmsen added.
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