Tomorrowland has come a long way since its debut in 2005. From its humble beginnings to its undisputed title as the world’s best music event, the past 20 years have seen the Boom festival grow exponentially, reaching heights only a handful of entities around the globe can achieve. This year, for the third time, youBEAT attended Tomorrowland as press and media for a very special edition marking the festival’s twentieth anniversary.
“Life” is the theme of the 2024 edition, which brought together over 400,000 People of Tomorrow from more than 200 nations and 8,000+ artists across 17 stages (including The Gathering on day 0 and the secret stage Portal to Paradise by Tulum) during the two “Madness weekends” in De Schorre, in the town of Boom, which has always been home to Tomorrowland. It stands as a majestic testimony to human resilience and the relentless pursuit of progress. This edition coincides with the 20th anniversary of the festival’s first edition.
The new festival theme “LIFE” is directly connected to the 2016 theme “Elixir of Life,” continuing the intricate lore that ties together Tomorrowland’s annual themes.
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The magic of Tomorrowland is undeniable, born from meticulous attention to detail and the innate passion of its staff, which has elevated it to the highest expression of the true “Festival,” regardless of genre, both for its paying spectators and for the hundreds of artists who perform on its dozens of stages, often seeing Tomorrowland as the pinnacle of their performing careers. This care is perceptible in every detail, from the stages to the DJ sets we’ll discuss shortly, to the theming of the pathways between stages, to the food, activities, and packages.
This year, in addition to the usual food stands, there is an area called Meta Garden where spectators can rest and eat quality food such as oysters and lobsters. Furthermore, Tomorrowland’s “Tastes of the World” cuisine offers the People of Tomorrow a delightful taste discovery with 2 restaurants, 13 chefs, 45 restaurateurs, and 3 mixologists. The festival brings together some of the best chefs and mixologists from the culinary world, such as Roger Van Damme (Lucca’s father) and Chef Pam, the best female chef in Asia, the first and youngest female chef to receive both a Michelin star and the ‘Opening of the Year’ award from the Michelin guide.
A peak and unique moment was The Symphony of Unity, paying homage to one of Tomorrowland’s and music’s greatest values: Unity.
It transcended genres and artistic frontiers, bridging both cultures and histories, from the majesty of a classical orchestra to the youth of electronic music.
This year, the charming Vaudeville Theater, in the heart of Brussels, was be the decor for the philharmonic orchestra.
A limited amount of tickets will be available at a later stage to be part of this special show combining classical accoustic and electronic music.
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Once again the Symphony of Unity will return for a unique closing evening on Monday July 22 and Monday July 29. This year, the charming Vaudeville Theater, in the heart of Brussels, will be the decor for the philharmonic orchestra. A limited amount of tickets will be available at a later stage to be part of this special show combining classical accoustic and electronic music.
Still on the subject of attention to details, we’ll take a moment to talk about the waste recycling system.
Beyond the themed bins, the Love Tomorrow project aims to raise awareness among the audience about changing their view of “waste,” making people aware that most of their waste constitutes a source of renewable materials. In numbers: 70 recycling backpacks, 6 square kilometers of clean area, 560 volunteers in the recycling team, over 3,000 containers in the neighborhood and parking lots, over 1,300 containers at Tomorrowland, 1,000 in the backstage area, and 1,800 containers at DreamVille, over 15 selected and recycled waste streams, and reusable cups in the Backstage and Dreamland.
Linked to the ecological activism project, Tomorrowland is an integral part of a very important social project: the Tomorrowland Foundation. Through this Foundation, Tomorrowland offers children and young people aged 4 to 21 from all over the world the opportunity to learn and express themselves through music and dance. The various projects aim to give children the chance to express themselves creatively and work on their self-esteem. Spontaneous donations and contributions from Tomorrowland visitors, combined with an annual contribution from WeAreOneWorld, the organization behind Tomorrowland, provide the Tomorrowland Foundation with the opportunity to create a positive impact on the lives of many children and young people worldwide.
During the first weekend of the festival, there were exclusive DJ sets that are rarely heard globally. The first day can be summarized in three words: Swedish House Mafia. Twelve years after their last appearance in front of the world’s most famous hill, the three Swedes delivered a DJ set that was a journey through their classic hits in the first half, and a rapid dive into their current productions, including a new song with Alicia Keys, in the second half. However, in our opinion, the best set of the day goes to the Berlin trio of the Keinemusik collective, which ignited the Crystal Garden for three consecutive hours. A concrete, solid, and perceptible set that journeyed from Faher Stretch’s “My Love” by Kanye West in Afro House version during the sunset to the closing with Thandaza and Jennifer Lopez’s “Waiting for Tonight.” On the second day, two b2b sets, never seen in Europe and rarely elsewhere, topped the charts. Rezz and deadmau5, with their project RezzMau5, set the Freedom Stage on fire like never before. An energetic, solid set, with most callbacks to Rezz’s sounds, probably one of the best of the entire event.
The other top b2b of the day was between Four Tet and Solomun. Four hours of DJ set that saw guest appearances from artists like Dom Dolla, Anyma, Amelie Lens, paying homage to two historical figures of the industry with an epic closure with “DayDream Repeat.” The last day was the most nostalgic, thanks to the Planaxis stage with “2010-2012,” allowing us to travel back to those moments when we all started to fall in love with electronic music. Outside this stage, Steve Aoki and Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike took us back 15 years with a rather debatable revival enriched by impressive fireworks. That said, the true protagonist of the day was Alesso, with a memorable closing featuring “If I Lose Myself” and “Calling.”
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During the first weekend, we had the opportunity to interview , our Italian brothers PARISI, winners of Grammy for Fred Again.. “Actual Life 3” album and collaborators of Swedish House Mafia, Ed Sheeran, Black Eyed Peas and more – and the 15y Dutch dj & producer Lucca Van Damme, talent of Tomorrowland Academy.
Here are some numbers to put the magnitude of Tomorrowland into perspective:
Tomorrowland Mainstage 2024 – 20th anniversary:
- 160 meters wide and 36 meters high
- 43 fountains
- 4 waterfalls with 12 pumps
- 40 stage attendants
- 1600 square meters of LED wall
- 1054 moving heads
- 230 speakers
- Hand-painted details
Tomorrowland new Core stage – facts & figures:
- The stage is 17 meters high and 30 meters wide.
- All stage decorations are inflatable.
- The entire stage was developed for touring, everything fits into a single container.
- 209 moving lights
- 20 wash beams
- 96 strobe lights
- 95 LED rockets
- 34 LED par cans
- 14 fountains
- 14 water geysers
- 28 LED water washes
- 40 firework fountains
- 15 CO2 shooters
- 15 LED bars
- 45 smoke machines
- 22 bubble smoke machines
10 most played tracks of Tomorrowland Belgium 2024 – Weekend 1:
- KAAZE ft. Alina Pozi – Papi
- Argy & Omnya – Aria
- Sebastian Ingrosso & Steve Angello – Reload
- Swedish House Mafia ft. John Martin – Don’t You Worry Child
- Marlon Hoffstadt aka DJ Daddy Trance – It’s That Time
- Gotye ft. Kimbra – Somebody That I Used to Know (SIDEPIECE edit)
- Adam Port, Keinemusik, Stryv, Malachiii – Move
- Chase & Status & Bou ft. Trigga & IRAH & Flowdan & Takura – Baddadan
- Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike & Tiësto & W&W ft. Dido – Thank You (Not So Bad)
- DJ Tomcraft – Loneliness
Tomorrowland 2024 – facts & figures:
- 400,000 People of Tomorrow over 2 weekends
- Over 200 nationalities
- 16 stages (including The Gathering)
- Over 800 artists
- 4 Tomorrowland Store Boutiques
- Over 590 recycling volunteers
- More than a kilometer of bars
- 34 hectares = 340,000 square meters = over 63 football fields
- 52 days of build-up
- Over 15,000 crew members each day
- Over 46,000 Global Journey travelers (including Discover Belgium & Discover Europe)
- Global Journey flights from over 30 countries and 50 cities (New York, Mexico City, Sao Paolo, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Dubai, Singapore, Johannesburg, Barcelona, Vienna, Zagreb, Rome, Athens, Lyon, London, Berlin, and more)
- Global Journey Party Trains with live DJ sets from Amsterdam and Düsseldorf and a new Amicorum Train (night train) crossing 4 countries.
- Global Journey buses departing from the Netherlands, France, UK, Denmark, Germany, and Luxembourg.
- Over 40 hotels in Brussels, with a special Tomorrowland-themed hotel.
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Thanks to Tomorrowland Press team for welcoming us and for the opporunity!
