Tomorrowland organisers plan to build new stage after fire destroys original

Tomorrowland festival in Belgium plans to build a new main stage in time for the start of this weekend's event, organisers have said a day after a fire completely destroyed the original platform.

Organisers say the festival, in the town of Boom, south of Antwerp, will begin two hours later than originally planned on Friday with or without a new stage.

If they have not managed to secure a new stage then the event will open in a reduced capacity, with plans to fully open on Saturday.

Some 400,000 people are expected to attend the electronic dance music festival over two weekends, with tens of thousands having already arrived at the Dreamville campsite to stay overnight.

Hundreds of artists, including David Guetta, Lost Frequencies, Swedish House Mafia and Charlotte De Witte are expected to perform.

Nobody was injured in Wednesday evening's fire and experts are working to determine a cause. The local fire service has declared the site safe.

At a press conference on Thursday evening, Tomorrowland spokeswoman Debby Wilmsen said they hoped a "nice, new stage" would be ready for Friday.

If not, Dreamville and the festival grounds will function as two separate areas on Friday. Artists scheduled to perform the main stage will instead play on the Gathering Stage at the campsite.

People camping will also not be able to access the rest of the festival grounds in this scenario.

Bradley Cooper-Barnard drove from London to Belgium with three other friends.

"This is my fourth Tomorrowland and things definitely feel a little different," he told the BBC before the latest announcement.

"Dreamville itself feels very much subdued, there's a bit of a sombre feeling around. In all of my previous years by this time of the day people are partying and there's usually music everywhere - it's quite quiet but a good amount of people around," he said.

"We've got our tents set up and we're going to have a great time come what may."

In an Instagram on Thursday morning, Tomorrowland said: "It is impossible to put into words what we're feeling."

It added that the Orbyz main stage "wasn't just a stage... it was was living breathing world".

Meetings were held on Thursday between festival organisers, safety experts and local government officials to discuss contingency plans.

There are 14 other stages at the festival, all much smaller than the main stage.

The fire started around 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT) on Wednesday. Videos posted on social media showed thick grey smoke engulfing the stage.

Some residents were evacuated as firefighters worked to stop the flames from reaching neighbouring homes and woodland.

A police helicopter carrying water was also deployed to help extinguish the fire.

One employee who had been working on the site described "an apocalyptic scene" as the fire broke out.

"We suddenly heard bangs and saw fire near the stage, a huge amount of fire," the unnamed individual told Het Nieuwsblad newspaper.

"We were just putting the finishing touches on it. One more day and it would be finished. Four weeks of work... gone in half an hour."

Tomorrowland began in 2005 and has become the biggest electronic dance festival in the world, attracting music fans from every continent.