Tomorrowland 2021 cancelled

As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc and relentless pressure on the hospitality sector continues to mount, more bad news has been circulated regarding our events and festival circuit.

Tomorrowland 2021 has been removed from the summer events calendar by order of Belgian officials.

Just a matter of weeks after Tomorrowland’s organisers spoke of their positivity around the schedule of 2021 “real-world” events to Billboard Magazine, the mayors of Boom and Rumst – where Tomorrowland is held annually – have enforced a ban on this year’s showcase over concerns of COVID-19 cases increasing internationally.

During a press conference in Belgium on the 17th of June, officials told reporters that they need to respect and follow ‘current law’ although the decision is regrettable. They elaborated a little more on the decision by citing the current Delta variant and its danger to public health posed too great a risk to safety.

The whole of Tomorrowland’s 2020 schedule was wiped out due to the pandemic, and the 2021 instalment had already been moved to later in the year to stave off such disappointment.

Tomorrowland’s spokesperson Debby Wilmsen said:

“The mayors of Boom and Rumst have just informed us they will announce a ban on Tomorrowland 2021. Hitting like a sledgehammer, very hard and unexpected.”

“We haven’t had a festival for two years, which is very hard both financially and emotionally for our entire team”, she explained. “We were so keen on this, and it all looked positive. After 15 years of intensive cooperation with the municipalities of Boom and Rumst, this feels very wry. We find this very unfortunate after the many constructive preparations and discussions. We do not know what is happening to us for a while.” 

Following the announcement, media outlets such as The Brussels Times report that several politicians are working on solutions to overturn the decision. 

We will not hold our breath as another blow to the already sucker-punched hospitality sector lands with force.