Tomorrowland 2020 is back, but this time it's digital

The two-day Belgian electronic dance festival will feature eight 'stages' and interactive events

Tomorrowland, one of the world's biggest electronic dance music festivals, has gone digital for 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Courtesy Tomorrowland / Rutger Geerling

Two months after one of the world's biggest electronic dance festivals was cancelled due to Covid-19, organisers have announced that Tomorrowland 2020 is back, in digital form.

The Belgian dance mega-festival will take place online with a virtual presence from Saturday, July 25 until Sunday, July 26. It will run from 3pm until 1am, central European summer time, but will offer a ‘time-zone-friendly’ option for visitors attending from Asia and the Americas.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai have previously both been host cities for the event, holding satellite parties to coincide with the main festival in Belgium under the tag Unite with Tomorrowland.

No details have been revealed about the lineup of the digital version as yet and it is not clear whether existing ticket holders will get free access to the event.

Ticket sales go live on the Tomorrowland website on Thursday, June 18 and cost 12.50 euros (Dh52) for a day pass, or 20 euros (Dh83) for weekend passes that include a week of video-on-demand content.

Tomorrowland: Around the World will feature eight music ‘stages’, including the festival's regular platforms Atmosphere, Core, Freedom Stage and Elixir. The digital version of the festival will also have three new stages, which have been specially created and designed by the creative team and 3D artists behind the event.

Each stage will feature music from the world’s best artists in dance and electronic music – from all genres – as well as a large portion of the fireworks and laser shows that are characteristic of Tomorrowland.

The whole experience will take place via an interactive digital location that festival visitors can reach using a PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet. In addition to the music, activities will include webinars, games and workshops related to lifestyle, food, fashion and more.

"For us it’s a bit re-inventing the festival experience, but we truly believe that we can bring the spirit of Tomorrowland and entertainment at the highest level to people and homes around the globe. We hope that hundreds of thousands of people will unite in a responsible way and that small Tomorrowland gatherings at people’s homes – from Canada to Australia, from Japan to Brazil and everywhere in between – will be organised," said Michiel Beers, co-founder of the Belgian festival.

Festival goers, dubbed 'The People of Tomorrow', are being encouraged to erect tents in their gardens, put on their best festival outfits and set up big screens to create their own 'DreamVille' - the name given to the vibrant city usually erected for festival goers.

Whether it's "decorating your balcony or throwing a party in your living room – this weekend is all about uniting through the power of music in a responsible and safe way", says a statement by festival organisers.