Tomorrowland Weekend 2 fireworks plans have been officially scaled back. The Belgian festival has confirmed that no large-scale fireworks display will take place at the Boom festival site during this coming weekend’s second edition, due to the ongoing amber drought alert. Instead, only “limited and controlled stage pyrotechnics” will be deployed at the Mainstage — and even then, only following daily safety assessments. (See also our Weekend 1 police report.)
The pyrotechnics being used at the Mainstage are of the T1 and T2 varieties — effects developed specifically for use at short safety distances and designed to be fully controllable, the festival has emphasised. For context, the fireworks used on Belgium’s National Day celebrations in Brussels were of the much larger T4 variety. In other words, what will appear on the Mainstage over the weekend is a very different beast to the traditional high-altitude Tomorrowland fireworks fans have come to know.
The festival organisers explain that these effects are not the traditional Tomorrowland fireworks and that they will only be deployed at the Mainstage following a daily safety review. “The drought situation and the use of fireworks at the festival site in Boom are being assessed on a daily basis, in consultation with the authorities,” the organisers say. “In addition, we are taking further preventive measures, including a permanent fire watch and extra security in the vicinity of the Mainstage.”
Weather conditions or on-site risk could still lead to further changes across the weekend. If circumstances give cause to do so, the pyrotechnic effects may be adjusted or cancelled at any time. “Safety always remains the top priority,” organisers added.
The story arrives as a continuation of Weekend 1, when no fireworks were permitted at all by the local authorities in Boom and neighbouring Rumst under the same amber alert. Those precautionary measures remain in place as the DreamVille campsite opens for the second festival weekend. There will also be no fireworks during Thursday’s opening party, The Gathering, and personal barbecues and cooking appliances remain prohibited. Visitors can, however, make use of centrally organised and supervised barbecue areas.
Source: VRT NWS
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