The mayor who didn’t let Tomorrowland go ahead puts (g… (Rumst))

Mayor Jürgen Kallerts posted a surprising message on Facebook on Saturday. “Once upon a time there were two village chiefs who didn’t believe in Tomorrowland this year. Somers thought it got heated up, Pukkelpop could do it too. Anyone heard Bart now that they’ve turned off the lights in Hasselt?”

His comment refers to his and fellow Boom member Jeroen Baert (N-VA)’s decision not to allow the Tomorrowland Festival. It was the Flemish Minister of the Interior Bart Sommers (Open Vld) who then tried to reverse the decision of the Rupel region.

‘Intended for ridicule’

Mayor Romest himself does not describe his dog on Facebook as toxic. “In this case, it’s supposed to be sarcastic,” Kalarts says. “I often use rhymes. Not on social media right away, but for example at town hall weddings.”

“But it is true that we summoned Minister Somers with the intention of reversing our refusal to allow the Tomorrowland festival to go ahead. However, we held our position because it was organizationally impossible to meet the requirements. This became apparent to the Pukkelpop organizers.”

The Callaerts describe the period following their decision as very stressful. We’ve had a lot of negative feedback at the time, but thankfully also a lot of support from the locals. So I’m glad that many now on Facebook are calling our decision brave and correct.”