Main stage of Tomorrowland 2017

Few words about the festival

Did you manage to buy tickets for Tomorrowland and finally make your dream come true to be at this festival? Millions of people around the world are envious of you! Do you expect an amazing experience, great music and unforgettable days? I assure you – it will be much better than you think!

Scena główna na Tomorrowland w 2017 roku
Main stage in Tomorrowland in 2017

For confused people who have never heard such word, some information. Tomorrowland is the world’s largest electronic music festival, which takes place in the small town of Boom, near Antwerp, in Belgium. Some of you probably think: “electronic music, this is not for me”. However, even if you do not like this kind of rhythms, I sincerely recommend you to go to Tomorrowland. This is not a typical concert of techno or electronic music, but the mixes of the best songs ever.

Generally speaking, it is a festival because thousands of the world’s best DJs and people from all over the globe come to one place to listen to music together and to have fun. But Tomorrowland is much more than just a festival. It’s an experience. It’s a lifestyle. It’s a unique atmosphere. These are moments to which you will come back for many months or even years.

Jedna ze scen na Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland – everything you need to know

Tickets

Getting tickets is usually not easy. Well, unless you’re from Belgium or you have a family there. Half of the ticket pool goes there, so the chances of buying them are quite big. For other nations, it’s left only to wait in the online queue on their website and a lot of luck. And when can you buy tickets? Already in January (2nd week), you need to register on the Tomorrowland website that you are willing to buy tickets. Although we have a few days for it, it’s worth to hurry up because the first 20 people from each country have 4 tickets guaranteed! In addition, out of these 20 people, a winner who will be the ambassador of his country at the festival is selected and has, together with accompanying people, a guaranteed place in the camp of ambassadors, which is located right at the entrance to the camp (great localisation because it is close to the festival!).

Wejście na Tomorrowland
Entrance to Tomorrowland

One month after registration, you get your personal link to your e-mail (everyone has a different link) and, on the day of ticket sales (beginning of February), we enter through this link and wait for our turn to buy a ticket. The quickest go packages of tickets for all days of the festival + camping. Later you can buy single day entrance but it’s not the same experience … To feel the whole atmosphere of Tomorrowland is it the best to be in the camp!

If you have not been able to buy tickets during the main sale, you can still subscribe for the waiting list, it’s how I got the ticket this year 🙂

Fontanna w miasteczku, Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland – everything you need to know

How to get ready before the festival?

You got tickets with the campsite and you are sure that an amazing adventure awaits but you do not know how to prepare before going? And here I wanted to save you many questions that I see on various groups and provide some important information about the obligatory things to take and the look of the camp.

What to bring?

First of all, you will need a waterproof tent (it rains every year ), warm clothes, a mattress and a sleeping bag. It’s summer, always the one before last weekend of July (since two years also the last weekend of July, so 2 weekends but your tickets are valid for one weekend). Anyways. at night it is very cold and rain does not help (in Belgium it is raining often). If you do not have the opportunity to take a tent or mattress with you, because you live far away or fly by plane, you can easily get all the necessary things there. Last year I had an incomplete tent and I bought a double tent already at the campground (for about 70 €). You can also inflate the mattress for 1 pearl (currency of Tomorrowland – 1.6 € = 1 pearl).

Bar na wodzie na Tomorrowland
Bar on the lake in Tomorrowland

My experience

I live in Paris so traveling to Boom by car takes 4 hours, but even from other places, it is good to come by car because then you are able to take more things and spend less money there. If you have this luxury, I recommend taking a few other useful things, such as folding chairs, for example, a fishing tackle (or an inflatable couch), a large tent (so you can sit in its vestibule during meals or after returning from concerts), and food and alcohol. All this can be brought without restriction to the campground, on one condition – for the sake of security glass bottles are forbidden (alcohol can be poured into plastics and brought to the campground).

Bringing stuff from the car is also not such an easy-peasy – parking is located quite far so walking 10 times to the car will not be pleasant. Last year I bought a folding trolley on wheels to take more at once and it was quite helpful.

Dreamville on Tomorrowland
Dreamville in Tomorrowland

What is the arrival at the campground like?

Entry to Dreamville (our campus) is possible from Thursday at 11 am. From the Brussels airport, you can either take a bus directly or go to the city center and get the train to Boom station. If you arrive by car, you need to follow the signs depending which parking lot you have purchased or on which you want to go. Parking needs to be bought in advance and sales are already available in June. Prepare for a few hours in traffic to enter the campground, because most people come at the same time. When you park your car, you must stay in the same place throughout the festival, if you leave and want to come back, you have to pay again.

The car parking is located around 500 meters from the entrance to the campus, but from there you still have to go through the whole town to reach the campsite so the distances are long, especially with traps. It’s a good idea to get prepared and take a wheeled cart to put in a few things or pack in a big backpack. Generally, you definitely will have to go 2-3 times to the car to get everything. Well, unless you won’t bring many clothes either alcohol or food and you’ll buy the majority on the spot.

Why come already on Thursday? First of all, to get there, to pitch a tent and to be ready for a party on Friday morning. But … if you have a ticket to Dreamville then you get an extra one day of fun, called The Gathering! It means that already on Thursday on the campus there will be a few-hours concert only for people from the campsite, last year the star of the evening was Yves V.

The Gathering na Tomorrowland
The Gathering in Tomorrowland so the first evening of the party only for the people staying in the camp

If you manage to get to the area, you enter through “Welcome Home” gate and you will be directed to your part of the camp. There are several Dreamville, depending on the price, the places are at different distances from the festival. The cheapest and most popular is Magnificent Green where you come with your own tent etc. (There are also houses with a swimming pool and other super conveniences in other camps…). The camping site is gradually enlarged, it means that the first people arrange the closest to the town and have an area limited by a tape and every now and then it is increased by the people holding the tape. There is always only a piece unfolded to put your tent or you can also wait until space is expanded. The terrain is limited, so people working there by gradually making a piece of grass available for tents, make sure that there is room for everyone.

Scena główna na Tomorrowland
The main stage in Tomorrowland in 2017

How is the campus?

Tomorrowland is a town, not a camp. The organization is of a very high standard. It is a city with its currency, daily newspaper, shops, restaurants, disco, hairdresser, and relaxation zone. You can leave the campus whenever you want, if you have to go to the car, for example, or to the town of Boom. Entering the festival itself is a bit more strict. Full Madness tickets’ owners can enter the festival at 12 am (yes, concerts start already then!) but around this time there is quite a queue so be ready to wait a bit. For Dreamville visitor, in case of departure, a return is possible after 5 pm at the earliest. If you “oversleep”, you can enter up to 10 pm, later it’s possible just the next day. If you have Full Madness Pass so entrance for all days of the festival without the camp, you can enter only once during the day and there is no possibility to go out and return (only to go out).

Smok na wodzie na Tomorrowland
Dragon on the water in Tomorrowland

Some more information about the town.

In the campus town, there is aLild open from 6 am to 23 pm, disco open till 3 am, restaurants open all night, souvenir shop, hairdresser or relax zone, but these are just a few of the options available. There are toilets and showers at the campsite every dozen meters. You can find a free outdoor shower and a paid shower located in the buildings. The price of a shower depends on the hour. Most people bathe in the morning, so the price is higher and the queue is bigger – I think it costs 4 pearls. I bathed around 12 pm or 1 pm for one pearl and no queues. As there is no electricity on the campus, only in the bathrooms you can connect your hairdryer or straightener, but there are always queues there – the girls are preparing to go out and do makeup. Near the shower, there are also grills and tables, where you can eat your meal.

Lidl w miasteczku, Tomorrowland
Lidl in the town of Tomorrowland

What to do on campus?

From 10 am in the camp you can hear music, after all, it is a few days party. You will be encouraged to take advantage of gymnastics, dance classes or gyms – all of this is right next to you. Last year on the first morning I went to CHILL ZONE and found a karate class led by one of the DJs 🙂 There you can relax on the hammocks, have a snack, and above all, charge your phone.

Generally, I recommend taking your own bank power, but it’s probably not enough for the whole festival, so you can either recharge your phone right there or rent a power bank in the town of the campus. It costs 10 or 15 pearls, but after unloading it can be replaced free of charge, and at the end of the festival, returned completely and get some money back (I think 10 pearls). You can also take it home as a souvenir, such a power bank has the Tomorrowland logo!

Zajęcia karate w strefie relaksu na Tomorrowland
Karate classes in Tomorrowland

Pearl – the currency of Tomorrowland.

As for every self-respecting country, Tomorrowland has its own currency, a pearl. It is the only currency you can pay on the campus and at the festival. One pearl is the equivalent of about 1.6 €. The exact conversion rate is given as follows – 20 € is 12.5 pearls. Pearls are not traded, we have to load them on the bracelet and pay only with a bracelet. The smallest amount we can load is 20 €. The best is to charge at least 100 € for your bracelet before you go to the festival to pay for your current expenses. You can later recharge it at the festival in cash or by card, but there are always queues there. If you have unused pearls, you must ask for the refund by mid-August.

Strefa relaksu na Tomorrowland, Chill zone
Chill zone in Tomorrowland

The festival.

The road from the camp to the festival takes about 20 minutes from the entrance gate. Depending on how far your tent will be, you have to count at least 20 another minutes to get to the gate. The terrain distribution is as follow – a campsite, a town, a gate, a road to a festival, a festival. There is quite a distance to conquer. You can take alcohol or food for the road, but you can not bring it to the festival.

Gotowa na festiwal Tomorrowland
Ready for Tomorrowland

The event takes place from 12 pm to 1 am. The area is huge. It takes more than one hour to get from one end to the other, especially that there are many interesting things on the way (otherwise it’s maybe 30 min walk but it’s impossible not to stop on the way). At the entrance to the festival from the campus side, there is the largest stage and I recommend to be there in the evening because then the best stars play there and there is the biggest show.

Going further, throughout the festival area, you can see at least 15 other scenes with different types of music (electro, trance, techno) and always the food and alcohol zone nearby. Some of the scenes are completely covered and in case of rain, most people are there. Last year it rained few hours for two days but thankfully they were giving rain capes 🙂 Each scene has a different theme and they are really beautiful. I recommend visiting all of them!

Scena główna na Tomorrowland w 2017 roku
The main stage in Tomorrowland in 2017

The second entrance to the festival is located from the side of the Ferris wheel but that’s where enter people who come from other places than the campus. Both, the camp and concerts, take place in the Belgian town of Boom, 17 kilometers from Antwerp. Throughout the festival, getting to bigger cities is quite accessible and if you are sleeping in Antwerp or Brussels, then there are free buses from the festival to the Boom station and there are a lot of additional trains to these cities.

Scena główna na Tomorrowland w 2017 roku
The main stage of Tomorrowland at night

If you think to go to the festival at 12 pm and go back for lunch or a nap at the campus, good luck, I never made it. There are so many things to see, so much music to listen to, that you do not have time to rest or sit in the camp. Remember about the return hours – only until 10 pm you can enter the festival. Everything you would need can be found at the festival. Normally I used to leave the camp around 3 pm and I stayed until the end of the party. After returning to the campus, you can still go to the disco there, the music plays until 3 in the morning 🙂 And then for the after party to one of the tents of new friends …

Scena na Tomorrowland
A scene in Tomorrowland

A few more important information:

  • for 6 € + 5 € refundable deposit, you can rent a locker
  • roads in the area of the festival and the camp are illuminated
  • when you get your bracelet, you have to personalize it via the internet
  • if you lose the bracelet, report it, give your bracelet number and you will get a new one
  • you spend at least 100 €, but all depends on the amount of alcohol and food you buy at the festival
  • cameras and video cameras are allowed
  • selfie sticks are forbidden
  • I recommend taking your flag, a lot of people have flags and it really looks great
  • I do not recommend high heels or other uncomfortable shoes, there’s a lot of walking
  • Tomorrowland has its own application where you can check not only the line up on individual scenes but also find the location of your friends
Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland

I heartily recommend at least once in your life to go on Tomorrowland, it’s not only great fun but above all, an unforgettable experience that will forever remain with you!

I wanted to write down all the most necessary information for first-time comers, I hope that I managed at least partly. If you have questions, you can comment and I will always answer 🙂

Below are a few photos of the best experience in life: