APRIL 16 TH 2020
TOMORROWLAND TODAY
BELGIUM
IMPACT OF A LOST SUMMER The cancellation of the festival season is not only a blow to music lovers worldwide: it also has a huge impact on the economy. This is no less true for We Are One World (WAOW), the promoters of Tomorrowland. The festival’s direct revenues are lost, but the indirect proceeds – such as catering, hotels, tourism, stage design, local partners, municipal taxes, and so on – also disappear.
of the upcoming festival season is a further blow and stands to lead to calamitous consequences for the music industry as a whole. Damages from lost ticket sales alone add up to hundreds of millions. Artists and their teams are seeing their entire income go up in smoke. Add to that the impact across the complex chains of engineering partners (stage construction, light and sound rentals, backline suppliers...), freelancers (builders, technicians, roadies, stagehands, tour managers...), and catering (festival food, drinks, backstage supply...), and the total The economic impact of the crisis on the Belgian live impact on the Belgian industry is likely to exceed a billion music circuit was noticeable already, with concert halls Euros. and event venues forcibly closing down. The cancellation 52