Tomorrowland packing checklist for your group

Tomorrowland pulls in something like 400,000 people from over 200 countries, across more than a dozen stages that don't look like anything else in music festivals. It's also one of the hardest tickets in the world to get, whichever pass you managed to land. Whoever's coming with you, you probably don't need convincing it's worth the hassle of getting there.

The moment there's more than one of you, though, packing stops being just your own problem. Someone's bringing the charger. Someone's forgetting the sunscreen. That's true whether it's two of you or eight, and Tomorrowland has its own version of this: camping gear, a cashless system that runs differently than you'd expect, and Belgium's weather all being things a group ends up sorting out together, one way or another.

This covers what's worth packing whether you're at DreamVille or staying somewhere with an actual bed, what's worth skipping, and what's worth sorting out with your group before you go.

✦Checklist is summarized at the end.

01Documents, tickets, and money

• Passport, tickets, travel insurance, ideally in a waterproof folder, plus a printed backup.
• Visa documents, if needed, somewhere easy to grab.
• Your wristband needs to be activated online before you arrive. Skip this, and you'll spend part of your first day sorting it out at the gate instead of getting in.
• Cashless system, loaded on your individual wristband. Once your wristband is activated, top up your bracelet with Pearls online before the deadline to score "Bonus Pearls" and set up automatic refunds for any unspent balance after the weekend.
• Food and drinks inside tend to run pricier than you'd expect. We suggest pre-loading around €200, doing so in €100 increments to keep your spending easily manageable. This is the sweet spot to get you through the weekend without running out mid-set.

02What to wear

This is the one thing everyone we asked mentioned without being asked twice.

Crocs or sandals get recommended a lot as the easy waterproof option, but blisters after one day came up more than once. Cheap silicone shoe covers had a similar story; they tend to tear easily. Between the size of the grounds (you're looking at a lot of walking and dancing), your feet will take a beating either way.

What held up better across the board: comfortable, broken-in shoes you can walk and dance in for hours. Worth packing a second pair too if you have room; one bad rainstorm and a soaked shoe can ruin the rest of the trip.

Beyond shoes, Belgium's July weather tends to swing more than people expect, warm days, noticeably cooler evenings. A light layer for the evening and one compact, good-quality rain coat or poncho cover most of it. If costumes and festival fashion are part of the plan, that's part of the fun here.

03What not to bring

Weapons, illegal substances, glass bottles, fireworks, and professional sound or camera. Outside food and drink generally isn't allowed into the main grounds, DreamVille has its own rules if you're camping. Worth a quick check of the official list before you pack, easier to leave something at home than lose it at security.

04Daily carry: what's worth having on you

Skipping the obvious basics here, sunglasses, hat, deodorant, outfits, you already know what you need there. Worth having on you at the festival specifically:

• A portable charger (power bank). Phones tend to die faster than expected when they're also the camera, the map, and the way to find your group again.
• A collapsible water bottle. Easy to refill around the festival, and it doesn't take up space once it's empty.
• A small bag for the essentials (to hold your charger, sunglasses, sunscreen, and water bottle). Global Journey packages come with a small Tomorrowland-branded bag (drawstring bag), but it's not exactly built for comfort over three long days. Worth bringing your own if you already have one you like.
• Non-aerosol sunscreen, pressurized cans don't always clear security.
• A battery-powered or handheld fan. With July heat, you will thank yourself.
• Soap sheets or wet wipes. It'll be more useful than you think.

05Good to bring

A few small things that don't fit neatly anywhere else but earn their space fast: pain relievers and hangover tablets, band-aids for the blisters the shoes section warned you about, eye drops for three days of stage dust and dry air, and dry shampoo if your hair gets greasy quickly, the sweat and the weather don't help.

06If you're camping at Dream Ville

Worth skipping this section if you're staying off-site.

• Mark your tent: thousands of tents look identical at 3 AM when you're exhausted. Bring a flag or a unique light to identify yours.
• Coordinate big items early: once you've decided to camp together, figure out who is bringing what before packing day. An air pump and a gazebo (pop-up canopy) is a game-changer, less for comfort and more for having one dry, covered spot when the Belgian weather inevitably does its thing. Don't let "someone probably has it covered" turn into nobody having it covered.
• The essentials: don't forget a foldable camping chair, trash bags, and a reliable headlamp or flashlight and basic toiletries, towels, etc.
• Lock: a lock for your tent or the money for a locker, tent break-ins aren't common but they're common enough that most guides mention it.
• Earplugs and an eye mask. Festival sound systems run loud for days straight, and eventually you'll want actual sleep.
• Keep your tent size reasonable: if you're bringing your own tent, DreamVille has a spatial rule: "Bring whatever tent fits your group, as long as the tent size matches your group size." A 6-person tent for 6 people is fine. A 6-person tent for just 2 people is how DreamVille runs out of space, and security might call you out on it.
• Power & charging: most campsites don't have power outlets, including standard Easy Tents. That portable charger from your daily carry list matters more here than you'd think.

07The full checklist

Here's everything above in one place. Save it, share it with your group, or check things off together before you go.

Not everyone in the group flies home right after the last set. If your crew is turning this into a longer trip together, before or after Tomorrowland, the group trip planning checklist might help with what's worth agreeing on before anyone books the next leg.

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