Tomorrowland made its grand return to South America for the third edition of Tomorrowland Brasil (2015, 2016, and 2023). After two days of the festival (one day was canceled due to weather conditions), Parque Maeda in Itu, in São Paulo’s countryside, was once again home to the magical global gathering of the planet’s finest electronic artists.
I have been to Tomorrowland Belgium for four times (2017, 2018, 2022 & 2023), and this was my first time at Tomorrowland Brazil. Below are my perceptions of the third edition of the Brazillian version of the festival.
Stages:
Tomorrowland Brasil had six different stages, including the iconic ‘Reflection of Love’ Mainstage, CORE Stage (due for upgrade in January), as well as the Tulip (a revived stage that used to sit in the place where Kara Savi stood in Beligum) and Essence stages. The wonderfully decorated Youphoria stage and The Gathering stage at DreamVille were also popular. The distance between them made it easy for festivalgoers to get around. In a surprising turn of events, the Essence Stage was the star of the show, perhaps because I’ve already experienced the Reflection of Love mainstage. It was the best stage in terms of music and atmosphere, enough to rival Ultra’s Resistance Megastructure, and we hope to see this stage make another appearance at another event.
Headliners & Brazilian Artists:
The event is well known for bringing the best electronic music DJs to play at the festival, and Brazil was no exception. We had the opportunity to see them on the mainstage: Martin Garrix, Tiësto, Steve Angello, Lost Frequencies, and others.
Tomorrowland Brasil was home to some of the country’s top electronic music artists, including Brazilian superstars Alok and Vintage Culture, as well as other DJs whose sets we could catch, such as ANNA, Bruno Be, Bruno Martini, Carola, Cat Dealers, KVSH, Liu, Malifoo, Öwnboss, and Pontifexx.
Mother Nature
Unfortunately, the rain that fell on the first day (12) was a major protagonist of Tomorrowland Brasil. Maeda Park could not withstand the volume of rain, and there were many flooded and muddy areas throughout the event. The event organizers had to cancel a day of the festival to repair both the event track and the road that connects the festival to São Paulo. The festival will reimburse all tickets from Saturday giving the option to receive the money or ticket for 1 day next year. Credit goes to Tomorrowland for salvaging the festival and making it work on day 3. Thankfully the weather cooperated on Saturday and Sunday so it could happen.
Food
We saw that the Brazilian edition followed exactly what we see in Tomorrowland in terms of diversity of food, with several cuisine options available. Even the famous Brazilian coxinha was available, as were many vegan/vegetarian options.
We were invited by chef Fernando Rodrigues (from churras366) to try the authentic Brazilian barbecue that was served in the Mothers Room (VIP area for guests and influencers), and it was absolutely fantastic. Maybe we’ll see some more Brazilian influence next July in Belgium.
Conclusion
This is only the third edition of Tomorrowland Brasil, compared to its Belgian counterpart, which is nearly 20 years old. Despite its smaller size, it has successfully replicated the spirit of Tomorrowland. There are definitely areas for improvement, but everyone who attended was super happy and very proud that Brazil is the only country in the world to have a version of Tomorrowland outside of Belgium (not counting the Winter edition). I’m sure the event is here to stay and will be on Brazil’s calendar annually. What are you waiting for?
2024 is already confirmed!
