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TomorrowLand 2013

TomorrowLand is a huge electronic music festival that takes place annually at the De Schorre National Park in Belgium.  Since it was first organized in 2005, it has become one of the biggest and best music festivals in Europe.  Every year, the festival has grown not just in attendance but also in the number of acts featured, and tickets sell out faster and faster.  This year is no different.

The festival regularly features the best artists in electronica and dance music today.  In the past, TomorrowLand has featured David Guetta, Moby, Skrillex, Deadmau5, and Paul van Dyk.  A short list of the top headliners for this year includes DJ Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren, Carl Cox, Benny Benassi, Fedde le Grand, Steve Aoki, Avicii, Nervo Twins and Marcus Schulz.

Markus Schulz is bringing his A-game to this year’s festival as he is scheduled open, headline and close a stage all by himself on the first day of the festival.  He is planning to spin a 12-hour set of his signature trance style giving festival goers the “full MS spectrum.”

TomorrowLand has become famous for its surreal fairy tale decorations and atmosphere.  In 2011, the festival had an Alice In Wonderland theme and the main stage included a giant oak tree with Alice’s face with glowing, laser shooting eyes, giant mushrooms, and even working waterfalls.  Last year’s theme “Book of Wisdom” had a main stage was decorated to look like a shelf of giant books with titles like “The Beauty of the Beat” and “Happiness.”  The central book on stage could open and close to reveal a huge video screen.  The event usually has about 14 stages all operating simultaneously, and every stage is as carefully built and decorated as the main stage, if not on quite such a staggeringly huge scale.  This year’s theme is “The Arising of Life” and the intro video suggests that the event will resemble a huge psychedelic garden.

If having over a dozen carefully designed stages all featuring the best and brightest in electro and dance isn’t enough, TomorrowLand has plenty of other diversions to keep you occupied. In keeping with the carnival feel of TomorrowLand, there are plenty of fairground rides which are free for the festival goers.  The festival takes place in a Belgian National Park, so the venue itself has a forest and lakes there for your enjoyment.  You can take a short hike around (but you’ll already be doing plenty of walking and dancing) or you can rent a paddle boat and go out on to the lake.

If you brought someone special with you, or just happened to make a really good new friend at the festival, there is an area designed just for you.  At the Church of Love you can get a room supplied with a bed, condoms, tissues, and about 15 minutes alone together.  For your peace of mind, there are even “nuns” working the doors of the church to ensure your privacy and security.

Because of TomorrowLand’s forest location, one of the available accommodations for the event is an on-site campground.  It is called Dreamville and has a good number of amenities for a campground.  Of course, you must bring your own camping gear, but right in Dreamville you can find a supermarket, an area for barbecuing, and even hot showers.  If camping isn’t your style, there are, of course, plenty of off-site hotels.  For the super VIP guest, however, there is a mansion with rooms for 12 guests willing to pay the €21,000 (about $27,500) price tag.  The mansion is luxuriously equipped, complete with a stocked pantry and fridge, and is within walking distance of the festival.

Even the food is not your typical festival fare.  Of course, for traditionalists there are plenty of pizza and fried food options, but star chefs Wout Bru and Roger Van Damme will be operating exclusive restaurant tents with upscale dishes, desserts and cocktails inspired by the music and fairy-tale themes.

For 2013, the three-day festival will take place from July 26th to the 29th.  Unfortunately, the Full Madness passes sold out in 35 minutes, and all of the rest of the 180,000 passes sold out less than an hour after going on sale, and there is only a thin chance of finding some on resale.  For those that are still dying for a chance to get a taste of the TomorrowLand experience, there is still hope!

There is going to be a live video stream of this year’s festival shot in HD available through the TomorrowLand YouTube channel.  In addition to live streams of the artists giving it their all, you will be able to see interviews and video from behind the scenes.  Since all of the action is taking place in Belgium, the live streaming will run from 3 P.M. to 8 P.M. Eastern Time.  Luckily, there is even more TomorrowLand madness coming very soon for those who just can’t wait to participate in the action.

TomorrowLand has grown so fast since its beginning that this past February the organizers announced a new spinoff festival, TomorrowWorld.  The first TomorrowWorld will take place this September 27th through the 29th at Chattahoochee Hills, near Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A., and features a line up just as impressive as that for TomorrowLand.  So far the official lineup includes about 300 names that will be playing on seven different stages, and there are apparently still a few big-name acts that being kept secret.  It will also feature the Dreamville campground with similar amenities.  For avid festival goers, the best news is that there are still passes available on the TomorrowWorld web page.

TomorrowLand has grown to huge proportions with an amazing list of acts, lavish amazing  live sets and an unparalleled atmosphere.  Now, all that has made TomorrowLand special is crossing the Atlantic giving Americans a chance to live the experience right in their own backyard.  Given the way TomorrowLand has grown and improved, I can’t wait to see what TomorrowWorld has in store.

– this article belongs to Mixing.DJ