Tomorrowland protesters bought tickets for festival

Two of the residents of Boom in Antwerp province who are bringing a lawsuit against the second weekend of the Tomorrowland dance festival have themselves bought tickets for the event, according to VTM News. Tomorrowland, one of the most successful and popular dance music festivals in the world, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and plans to extend to two weekends in July, from 18-20 and from 25-27. The six-day total would bring in 150,000 visitors each weekend.

The decision to extend the festival, approved by the Boom city council, was challenged in court by 10 residents of the area because of noise and crowds nuisance. “Boom and Rumst risk becoming uninhabitable during two weeks,” the residents argued. The procedure started in court in Antwerp yesterday, with arguments expected to be heard in a few weeks. 

According to VTM, two of the parties to the action bought tickets for the contested second weekend, paying the special reduced price offered to local residents. Lawyer Griet Cnudde declined to comment on the report.

In related news, the lawyer representing Tomorrowland, Griet Cnudde, has also delivered a list of demands on behalf of residents of central Brussels calling for a reduction in the size of Winterpret, the Brussels Christmas market. Cnudde was previously involved in an action to move the Antwerp Sinksenfoor, a popular summer fair, from its traditional site along the waterfront, again at the request of local residents. “I’m portrayed as a spoilsport, as a Nimby lawyer,” she told De Morgen. “That is nonsense.”

photo courtesy YouryDW/Wikimedia Commons