Tomorrowland gets green light for third weekend
Tomorrowland has been granted a permit for a third festival weekend in 2022, which will help to recoup lost revenue from two fallow years.
The organisers previously said that a third weekend would help “cushion the financial hangover” from six cancelled festival weekends, including four in Belgium (Tomorrowland 2020 and 2021) and two in France (Tomorrowland Winter 2020 and 2021).
It has now been confirmed that the province of Antwerp, the region in which the 70,000-capacity festival has taken place since 2005, has granted the organisers permission to hold three separate weekends (instead of two) over the course of next summer.
“We are thrilled,” a festival spokesperson told The Brussels Times. “We can now go ahead with three weekends which will all be in July. These will have the same preparations as if we were doing just two weekends but will allow us to offer more variety.”
“These [weekends] will have the same preparations as if we were doing just two but will allow us to offer more variety”
The decision comes after discussions with local residents and authorities, who have added some conditions – all of which the organisers have accepted.
An earlier closing time will be imposed on some of the parties within the campsites in order to reduce noise after hours. The use of fireworks will also be limited, and the festival will also not use helicopters to transport artists and camera crews.
In addition to the flagship festival, Tomorrowland is also busy preparing for two weekends of Tomorrowland Winter in the Alpe d’Huez ski area between 19–26 March 2022.
The first names for the festival have been announced today (16 September), with Adriatique, Afrojack, Armin van Buuren, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Kungs, Lost Frequencies, Martin Solveig, Ofenbach, Paul Kalkbrenner, Quintino and Yves V all set to perform.
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Tomorrowland eyes third festival weekend for 2022
The organisers of marquee Belgian festival Tomorrowland have officially submitted an application for a third festival weekend in 2022 “out of economic necessity”.
According to organisers, the third weekend would help compensate for six cancelled festival weekends, including four in Belgium (Tomorrowland 2020 and 2021) and two in France (Tomorrowland Winter 2020 and 2021).
According to Het Laatste Nieuws, the two consecutive cancellations of the Belgian festival alone caused a financial blow of “no less than €25 million”.
“We really have to do this to cushion the financial hangover,” Tomorrowland spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told the Belgian newspaper. “Before Covid, there were no plans to start organising three weekends.”
In order for the one-off extra weekend to go ahead, permission is required from the Antwerp region, as well as the municipalities of Boom and Rumst, where the 70,000-capacity festival has taken place since 2005.
“We really have to do this to cushion the financial hangover”
Tomorrowland has taken place across two weekends since the tenth anniversary
On the tenth anniversary of Tomorrowland, two festival weekends were held for the first time instead of one. It was then the intention to do this only in jubilee years, every five editions, but organisers got a permit to hold the festival two weekends a year.
A third weekend would be held one week before the dates already announced, on Friday 15, Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 July 2022.
A public inquiry on the application will be open until Tuesday 24 October and public objections can be made.
A decision will be made no later than 13 January. As it stands, the proposed weekend is likely to get the backing of Antwerp, Boom and Rumst, who have all indicated that they are not opposed.
In the meantime, Tomorrowland is busy preparing for two weekends of Tomorrowland Winter in the Alpe d’Huez ski area in March 2022.
Tomorrowland isn’t the only festival extending its duration for 2022 – Spain’s Primavera, Croatia’s InMusic and Germany’s Summer Breeze are all expanding next year to celebrate anniversaries.
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