Sarens appointed for second year in a row to for the assembly of the gigantic stages of Tomorrowland

Sarens, world leader in heavy lifting, engineered transport and crane rental, has participated in the assembly of Tomorrowland. Gosselin Logistics, one of the companies in charge of setting up the various stages of the festival, called on the international expertise of Sarens to carry out multiple key heavy lifts.

Tomorrowland is an electronic music festival held annually in Boom, Belgium for two consecutive weekends. It is estimated that nearly half a million people attend each year, coming from over 200 different countries. It is especially notorious for the complexity of its stages, which have a large amount of ornamentation adjusted to the thematic, as each edition has a different motif. The main stage is 53 meters high, 270 meters wide and has 990 square meters of video mosaics.

The Sarens engineering team has selected telescopic cranes with a load capacity of up to 250 tons for the assembly work at the festival. These cranes, smaller in size, were perfect for this tasks due to their high operability even on terrain with reduced surfaces, as in the specific case of this job..

The machinery used was transported from Sarens Belgium's headquarters in Wolvertem to De Schorre in Boom, the site of the festival. This is the second year that Sarens' services have been required for the assembly of certain stages, given the excellent work carried out by the team on the previous occasion.

Serge Dams, project manager, explained that "Sarens is very proud to help in the construction of the most important festival in the world for the second year. We had 10 operators on site who, thanks to the use of the telescopic cranes, were able to overcome the obstacle of the operating space". "The biggest learning is that for next year we will put AC on the cranes because it was so hot in July in Belgium." Serge jokes.

Tomorrowland's impact for the area is economic as well as social and environmental. The festival generates direct and indirect revenues of around €100 million a year and creates around 10,000 temporary jobs. The festival also contributes to the promotion of tourism in the country. The festival is also committed to sustainability and the environment. For example, it uses renewable energy to power its facilities.

However, Sarens' work at Tomorrowland was not the company's only contribution to the Belgian festival scene this summer. During the months of May, June and July, a Sarens team has been on site in Werchter to set up and dismantle several stages for the Rock Werchter festival.

This festival is one of the most important and popular music events in Europe, held every year in the Belgian town of Werchter, some 30 kilometers east of Brussels. It offers four days of live music, with a lineup that spans different genres and styles, from rock and pop to electronica and folk. It attracts more than 300,000 people from all over the world.

For this job, the Sarens team used three telescopic cranes with load capacities of 50, 70 and 80 tons respectively. The selection of this kind of machinery is due to their flexibility and ability to operate in complex scenarios because of their available operability space, as in the case of Tomorrowland. The Sarens team was on site for approximately 3 months, which was necessary for the assembly and subsequent disassembly of the heaviest elements of the stages.

The Rock Werchter festival is already a staple of the country, its first edition was in 1974 and has grown in size and prestige over the years, incorporating international artists such as AC/DC, U2, Metallica, David Bowie, Radiohead, Coldplay, Muse, Arctic Monkeys. Each year its assembly generates about 3,000 direct and indirect jobs.

In addition, in Ghent, Sarens has participated in the assembly of the main structure of the Jazz Festival. The main challenge faced by the Sarens team of experts was the lack of space for heavy transporters and cranes, which meant that the project had to be completed by removing obstacles and installing steel plates to reduce the pressure on the ground.

For this work, the LTM1150 was the main crane, and two smaller cranes were also used for various preparations (type AC50). This equipment was selected because it met the maximum load and operating radius requirements.

The equipment needed to complete the work was transported by road and took two days to reach the site. Two transports were required for additional counterweights on the main crane. The main difficulty of this process lay in the narrowness of the roads and especially at the entrance in the center of Ghent.

Sarens has extensive experience in carrying out major projects in Belgium such as assisting with the transport of the new tanks for the upgrade of the Citrosuco plant in Ghent. Sarens has also assisted Cargill in the maintenance of its facilities, providing the necessary machinery to maximize biodiesel production.

Sarens is the global leader and reference in crane rental, heavy lift and engineered transportation services. With state-of-the-art equipment, value engineering, one of the world's largest inventories of cranes, transporters and special rigging equipment, Sarens offers creative and intelligent solutions to today's heavy lifting and engineering transport challenges.

With more than 100 entities in 65 countries operating without borders, Sarens is an ideal partner for small to large-scale projects. Sarens currently employs 4,543 highly qualified professionals who are ready to serve the needs of any client worldwide and in all market sectors.