Festival Focus : Tomorrowland
When it comes to electronic music festivals, Tomorrowland is certainly one of the most iconic. In 2017 the festival hosted 185,000 people from 75 different countries, had over 1,000 artists performing and stretched over two weekends. The tickets normally sell out in minutes after going on sale. The headliners for 2017 included Armin Van Buuren, Afrojack, Fatboy Slim, Paul Van Dyk, Marshmello, KSHMR and Robin Schulz. The 2018 edition will be held on the last two weekends of July, featuring almost 20 stages, under the theme 'The Story of Planaxis'.
A view of the Tomorrowland Main Stage in 2017
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History
The first event was held in 2005, in Boom, Belgium, where it is still being hosted today. 2005 saw around 9,000 visitors and had headliners such as Armin Van Buuren and David Guetta. This was at a time where dance music was still emerging, but with the help of festivals like Tomorrowland and the incredibly talented DJ's that play there, the genre has grown exponentially since. By 2007, Tomorrowland had expanded to nearly 100 acts and almost 50,000 visitors.
A view of the Main Stage in 2005
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A view of the Main Stage in 2007
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A view of the Main Stage in 2011
In 2011, a mere six years after the inaugural event, the festival had expanded to 3 days and saw no less than 180,000 visitors pass through its gates. Names like Swedish House Mafia, Tiesto, Hardwell, Carl Cox and many others performed at the event. It was also voted as the best festival of it's kind at the International Dance Music Awards. Since 2014, to meet the high demand for tickets, the festival has been held over two weekends, with each weekend having basically the same lineup, and sees crowds of over 350,000 people attend in total. Below is a video from the 2017 event, showing 'drops' only from Armin Van Buuren's set. A 'drop' in dance music can be described as:
EMI Music. A drop is the moment in a dance track when tension is released and the beat kicks in. Great drops create overbearing drama. They're built for the unabashed and uninhibited, releasing the enormous energy accrued during a song's progression.
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Dreamville
Dreamville is the camping site where most of the festivals attendees stay during the festival. Last year is was home to some 40,000 people, basically making it a small town for the weekend! There is a supermarket, jewellery store and even a proper hair dressers and beauty salon. Food stands include a butchery, bakery, BBQ areas and a teahouse.
We breathe by the Sun, we love by the Moon
-Dreamville Slogan
An aerial view of Dreamville
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The Numbers
According to the fiscal documents that are publicly available in Belgium, the 2013 edition led to profits of 15.9 million Euros. The same article does also mention that the festival added 70 million Euros to the Belgian economy.
Main Stage Design
Although there are nearly 20 stages at Tomorrowland, none can compare to the colossal Main Stage. There has been everything from actual waterfalls, smoking volcanoes and tight rope artists incorporated into the main stage. In 2016, the stage took 40,000 man hours to build. The stage was a 120m long enchanted forest landscape with a central 25m high, 3D tree. The design team worked from a very detailed model of the outer skin of the set, designing a structure that was engineered to support the load for platforms and inflatables. The engineering team start with a drawing of the final stage setup, and from this they create a scale clay model, which is broken into sections and given to different teams of creatives who carve the final elements from polystyrene blocks. Once these sections are completed they are hard-coated and given to the artistic team for painting. They use various techniques to make the elements appear as life like as possible. These sections are then fitted to the skeleton of the stage and lighting, smoke machines and other effects equipment is added. Also incorporated is all the sound equipment, LED screens, pyrotechnics and which comprises off 100's of speakers and sub woofers. Once completed, the incredible visuals and sound are second to none, as can be seen in this video:
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