If I had to sum Tomorrowland up in one word it would be Magical (not taking into account the yucky toilets without soap of course).
It’s been around a week since I came back from the festival and honestly this whole time has been spent recovering and catching up on sleep whilst dealing with the new job. A week after my first ever camping trip, my bed still feels like absolute heaven. I can’t describe the feeling I had when sleeping in it on my first day back, ah, so beautiful.
Despite the forecast, the weather was amazing and sunny for the first two days of the festival. This was the perfect beginning to the trip! Thank god my friends from Germany drove, this meant that I didn’t have to carry any camping gear with me (not that I own any anyways) and I even got a pillow! The pillow came in exchange for some English candy, my friend thought the idea was a little silly so it had to be justified.
After dragging things until our arms nearly fell off, we made it to Dreamville. Seriously this place is just amazing (check out my Dreamville guide here). It is dreamy indeed as long as you come fully prepared for camping. We picked up our bracelets at the camping site. Our tickets were bought through Viagogo and it was a smooth process.
The first night they even organised an exclusive Dreamville party called “The Gathering”. We’ve all seen the photos of this infamous sun haven’t we?
The night was hosted by Dimitri Vegas and everyone in Dreamville were out. What a way to kick it off!
The festival goers come in all sorts of costumes, body paint, wigs, hats and flags. I swear this place was dominated by German, Swedish and Belgian people and I was guilty among all of them with my own flag.
Is that a massive shroom? Yes it is, and this is just outside, inside is a whole different story. Not being the biggest house music fan, I was skeptical about whether I’d be able to fully enjoy Tomorrowland and I can tell you now that I’m completely sold. Not necessarily to house music but to the festival.
Every aspect was carefully and creatively thought out. Everywhere I looked, there were intriguing decorations and surreal special effects. To get to one part of the festival you had to walk across a pond, over a bridge which had pre-written messages all over it. On the sides of the ponds, there were fire-breathing cods and water fountains that lit up at night.
The whole place had this Alice in wonderland kind of feel to it and everyone was in a happy place, raving away in 10 different stages, each with it’s own uniqueness and I especially liked the cave.
The most beautiful one was of course the main stage.
The motto of the festival was “eat, sleep, rave, repeat”.
My top 3 festival highlights.
1 – I danced in a thunderstorm. I usually hate rain but I welcomed it with open arms and even danced in it. There is a little saying that goes something like: Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain. That’s what we did, no ponchos, no shelter, just dance.
2 – I got lifted on my friend’s shoulders, who was lifted on someone else’s shoulders, crazy right? A triple lift! We all ended up falling in the end. Now that’s some serious Tomorrowland Aftermovie shizzle, I shall be waiting for it.
3 – Standing right in the back watching Armin Van Buuren playing his set, observing the massive crowd, the laser show and fireworks – it was surreal and unlike any concert or festival I’ve ever been to.
My favourite DJs were David Guetta and Skrillex though, sorry Armin.
Tomorrowland is such an experience! It really isn’t all about the music. Tomorrowland is about embracing the beauty of your surroundings and enjoying it with the happy people around you. I would definitely go again if I’m able to get tickets at the original price. It was a pleasure being a part of it’s 10-year anniversary and it will most certainly be highly ranked on my bucket list highlights of the year. My new experiences included a festival abroad, camping, the triple lift and dancing in the rain, talk about a complete package!
During David Guetta’s set, we also found out that Tomorrowland will be in Brazil next. For those interested, you may already pre-register at http://www.tomorrowlandbrasil.com/.
Tomorrowland is not to be missed.
