All About Tomorrowland

Boom, Antwerp, Belgium

Open-air

XXL – 50k+

Electronic, Pop, Hip-Hop

$$$$

Live music, International, VIP

+3 Days

Tomorrowland is one of the most watched and most attended music festivals in the world.

As a leading EDM festival, Tomorrowland has brought some of the industry’s biggest and brightest stars to its stages over the years since its inception.

Majestic spectacles overtake the festival’s stages each year, and people from all over the world flock to Belgium to enjoy some of the best acts of the genre.

Here’s everything you need to know about Tomorrowland.

Tomorrowland first opened in 2005 to 10,000 attendees

The EDM festival first opened its stage in 2005 in Boom, Belgium. Founded by brothers Manu and Michiel Beer, the event was intended to excite audiences in the same way Mysteryland did in the Netherlands.

It raked in a few impressive headline acts such as Armin Van Buuren and Ferry Corsten, and attracted an audience of 10,000 people. Of the festival’s most iconic aspects are its spectacular stages. Today, there are 17 in total. When it first opened, however, it had only five.

2008 was Tomorrowland’s breakthrough year

2008 was Tomorrowland’s breakthrough year, when the number of visitors jumped from 15,000 the previous year to 50,000 people flocking to Boom.

For the first time ever, over 100 DJs participated in the festivities. Big names like David Guetta, Deadmau5, Above and Beyond, and others took to the stage and wowed the audience like never before.

Tomorrowland draws in an estimated 400,000 attendees

The festiva shows are no strangers to large crowds.

Its 2018 event welcomed 400,000 visitors over two weekends, a big jump from the 180,000 partygoers it had in the three years prior.

With a current average of 200,000 visitors each weekend, the festival has amassed a global audience.

Tomorrowland launched spinoff shows worldwide

Realizing their global outreach and the number of visitors who travel across the world to attend the festival, Tomorrowland decided to launch smaller live events in a number of different countries outside of its hometown in Belgium.

Tomorrowland started going international in 2013, with the announcement of their American spinoff show, TomorrowWorld, which was to take place at Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia. The following years saw Tomorrowland Brazil in 2014 and 2016, and most recently, Tomorrowland Winter in France in 2018 and 2019.

Tomorrowland had to go digital – but it didn’t disappoint

As a response to the coronavirus pandemic, Tomorrowland, like many other festivals, had to close its doors to attendees in 2020 and 2021.

Determined to still give the “People of Tomorrow” a show, the music festival held global digital events on the 25th of July 2020 and 16th of July 202, respectively. All audience members needed was their PC, smartphone or tablet, and the open mind to embrace for a whole new interactive experience.

For their first edition, the event brought in 60 of the world’s biggest artists to play 8 stages on their magical island Pāpiliōnem, and broadcasted the digital festival online for the world to tune in to.

In its following year, Tomorrowland Around the World achieved the feat of 35 hours of nonstop music, and people from across the globe reunited again to celebrate the spectacle.

Hans Zimmer composed a daring crossover for Tomorrowland’s 10-year anniversary

In celebration of Tomorrowland’s 10-year anniversary, Grammy-award winner Hans Zimmer composed a 10-minute long hymn. In this, he created a crossover between EDM and an 80-strong orchestra titled Tomorrowland Hymn.

According to the German composer, the classical anthem was meant to capture the spectrum of emotions felt by festival-goers at Tomorrowland. In the hymn’s online video, Zimmer describes the electronic celebration as:

“Tomorrowland is a known quantity to me and after ten years I think they deserve something special for their anniversary. It should be culturally diverse and should somehow represent the whole world. The hymn is about bringing different cultures together. All the things that make us different are actually the things we should be celebrating.”

– Hans Zimmer

Cash isn’t a thing in Tomorrowland

A principle carried out by a few similar festivals, cash isn’t a thing in Tomorrowland.

Saving its visitors the hassle of finding cash, losing money or tokens or having to carry around their wallets, Tomorrowland introduced special wristbands.

Visitors will receive their Tomorrowland bracelets ahead of time and can top them up instantly with Pearls as they prepare for the event.

Pearls are the Tomorrowland currency of choice which allow visitors to easily load up their wristbands at specific terminals at the venue, swipe them on machines to pay, and quickly get back to dancing.

Any unused Pearls at the end of the event will be credited back to your bank account. Not a bad way to keep your money safe, right?

DreamVille offers a camping experience like no other, with its own marketplace, shops, hair and beauty salon, and bakery

Visitors have the chance to book their stay at DreamVille, Tomorrowland’s camping grounds.

DreamVille really is its own little city. Its 6 distinct ‘areas’ offer residents a number of ways to camp throughout the festival’s weekend span.

For example, visitors could opt for the Magnificent Greens Area, where they can choose their own spot to pitch their tents. Other forms of accommodation, such as those in the Montagoe Area, offer spacious accommodation with comfortable beds, soft sheets, and everything you need to enjoy DreamVille in luxury.

Besides the range of accommodation options available, DreamVille is host to its very own marketplace with a number of shops, a hair and beauty salon for those in need of a quick touch-up, a Chill Out Area to escape the madness of the festivities, and quite a few choices for food and drink, including a small bakery. 

Tomorrowland could be your wedding venue

Yes, besides the music-related festivities, Tomorrowland also hosts weddings in DreamVille.

For those party goers who are passionate about eternalizing their EDM experiences forever, an application can be submitted for a wedding ceremony at the event. The DreamVille marketplace also offers handmade jewellery from 18 carat white gold, yellow gold, or red gold.

Avicii earned the title of the greatest Tomorrowland set ever played by any artist

At his 2011 show, young Avicii played what has been argued to be the greatest Tomorrowland set by any artist.

Before his quick rise to stardom, the young DJ was spinning a range of his early electro-influenced beats on the Tomorrowland stage. The performance made it to the list of Avicii’s greatest sets of his short career.

Now that you’re an expert on all things Tomorrowland, it’s time to join the People of Tomorrow on the music festival’s next date.