Tomorrowland is ‘surprised and puzzled’ by the contradictory messages from their governments
Yesterday, we reported that Tomorrowland had received some very unfortunate news, as Belgium’s local government (Boom & Rust), had decided that the 16th edition of Tomorrowland could no longer take place in 2021, which was scheduled to take place on August 27-29 and September 3-5. The decision to refuse the approval of the necessary license application was because of “the lack of publication of the Ministerial Decree regarding maximum capacity.”
Tomorrowland’s official statement in response to Boom & Rust’s decision was released today (June 18) on the festival’s website. In the statement, the festival describes Boom & Rust’s decision as such,
“We are very surprised and puzzled by these contradictory messages from our governments. In the next few days we will explore all possible options and try to obtain some clarity for our visitors and suppliers.”
The Ministerial Decree’s decision to allow events of 75,000 people has not been published, and without a timestamp as to when it will be published, Boom & Rust have ruled that only events of a maximum of 400 people can legally be allowed as of now. Belgium’s federal government has previously stated that festivals can take place after August 13, as long as extra measures are strictly enforced, which Tomorrowland intends to do throughout the entire duration of the festival.
Tomorrowland will spend the next few days exploring all options and obtaining some “clarity” for the festival’s suppliers and visitors.
Read Tomorrowland’s official statement below, or view it on their website here.
We will continue to update you as this story continues.
Tomorrowland’s Official Statement:
Dear People of Tomorrow,
Earlier this month, Belgium’s national government announced that large-scale festivals can take place from the second half of August. Yesterday, the local government (Boom & Rumst) has decided that the 16th edition of Tomorrowland cannot take place in 2021.
We are very surprised and puzzled by these contradictory messages from our governments. In the next few days, we will explore all possible options and try to obtain some clarity for our visitors and suppliers.
The grounds cited for the decision are that the Ministerial Decree regarding maximum capacity (75,000 persons) has not been published. For the time being, according to the mayors, only events up to 400 people can legally be allowed.
However, we have understood from the federal government that both arguments would be resolved very quickly with the publication of the Ministerial Decree and the possibility for the ID check to be carried out by private security, as the latter is a general point of attention for the control of the Digital Green Certificate in Belgium.
Finally, reference is made to a local explanation from the GEMS public health advisory group regarding the advice it has made to the Federal government for the summer plan. The federal government has clearly said that festivals can take place after August 13, provided that extra measures are strictly respected, which we intend to follow at all times.
As Tomorrowland, we first and foremost want to organise a safe festival and we have stated several times that we will always continue to evaluate and anticipate the epidemiological situation.
No Tomorrowland for the second year in a row would in any case be huge disaster for our company, but also for the more than 1500 suppliers involved, many freelancers and our thousands of employees. We are still 100% prepared to organise everything as professionally as possible if the epidemiological situation allows, and to celebrate a great end of the summer together with our visitors.
After 15 years of intensive cooperation, this feels very grim and we find it very unfortunate after the many constructive preparations and conversations and federal commitments that it has come to this point, where we struggle to comprehend what just happened to us and still have to let it sink in a bit. Creating and organising Tomorrowland is our life, and an undertaking on which hundreds of people work every day with great passion for a whole year, day in day out.
We keep looking positively towards the future and strongly believe that music will unite us again.
Live Today, Love Tomorrow, Unite Forever.
