Tomorrowland return in 2021 likely, but attendees will need a Covid passport

The Belgian government has given their most positive signals to date on large music festivals returning this summer.  Naturally, this is seen as a step in the right direction for Tomorrowland, arguably the largest electronic dance music festival globally and one of the major events on clubbers’ calendars each year.

The Tomorrowland organisers shared a statement off the back of remarks from Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. The Prime Minister said in a Tweet on 11th May:

“Larger festivals should be possible in the second half of the summer. Including pre-testing and European vaccination passport.”

Tomorrowland’s response to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo’s tweet:

“We are delighted and grateful to hear that the Belgian Government has given a realistic perspective for large festivals in Belgium towards the end of the summer,” Tomorrowland’s statement reads. “This perspective is not only hopeful for Tomorrowland as an organization, but also for the more than 1500 suppliers and their staff.”

Although these are the first positive murmurings for Tomorrowland and other Belgian music festivals, there are still many pandemic-related concerns that could hinder the progress of festivals this summer. Minister of Health and Social Affairs Frank Vandenbroucke told VTN News the return of large festivals is dependent on some key conditions.

The most important of all the conditions is for hospitals to reduce people admitted to hospital and in intensive care units. Frank Vandenbroucke said:

“Firstly, you can only start organizing big festivals when hospitals are a safe haven, and normal health care is guaranteed, “We must drastically reduce the number of people with Covid in intensive care, and the number of daily hospitalizations must also decrease.”

The next condition is the requirement for attendees to provide proof of vaccination or a negative test.

The third condition Vandenbroucke stipulates is:

“Thirdly, the people attending have to be tested at the event every day,” he explained. “The capacity will depend on that.”

The final of the four conditions is to restrict the countries from which people can travel:

“Only people from the European Union” will be allowed to attend festivals as well as visitors from “countries that have the coronavirus under control”, said Vandenbroucke.

Tomorrowland has only recently rescheduled the 2021 edition dates to August 27-29th and September 3-5th. The organisers have also warned fans the festival could still be postponed until 2022 if Belgian restrictions do not ease and safety is compromised.