According to a survey by Belgian public broadcaster, residents of Boom are making serious money off the festival every summer. Homes within walking distance of De Schorre are reportedly being rented out for hundreds to over a thousand euros a night, front lawns are being converted into paid parking, and residents have gotten creative with drink stalls, food stands, and other side hustles set up along the routes into the festival grounds.
It’s a notable shift from how locals have historically talked about Tomorrowland’s presence in town. Where the conversation once centered almost entirely on traffic congestion, noise, and strain on infrastructure, the economic upside is now impossible to ignore. With hundreds of thousands of attendees passing through Boom each weekend, the vast majority traveling in from outside Belgium, the demand for local accommodation and amenities has become a genuine windfall for anyone with a spare room, driveway, or fridge full of beer to offer.
The ripple effect extends well beyond individual households. Tomorrowland’s own financial reporting from its 2023 edition showed the two festival weekends drove close to €281 million in added economic activity for the region, supporting roughly 1,900 full-time equivalent jobs and generating €75.9 million in government revenue through taxes and social contributions. With both festival weekends now behind it and Weekend 1 already delivering a strong economic bump for the town, the numbers suggest Boom’s relationship with Tomorrowland has shifted from a seasonal inconvenience into one of the local economy’s most reliable annual boosts. 
