Tomorrowland 2013 Day 1: Markus Schulz 12-Hour Set, Main Stage Mania & More

With still two more days of Tomorrowland left, the sun has set on day one in Belgium. About 180,000 festival-attendees, visiting from 214 countries across the world, made their way to each of the 15 stages in the mini-dance music town of Tomorrowland. 

Aside the jaw-dropping Volcano main stage, there were several other stages featuring some of dance music's most popular DJs and their friends.

The incredible main stage, sitting at the base of a hill, attracted thousands of fans with its outstanding lineup. The structure of the stage itself is very impressive. Set up like a volcano with a gigantic CO2 cannon, a working waterfall, and tons of detail, the atmosphere and the amazing music brought on by some of the top dance music artists in the world, created an unforgettable experience. The stage included artists like NERVO, ARTY, Fedde Le Grand, Hardwell, Sebastian Ingrosso, and ended with a crazy set from Tomorrowland stars Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike.

The JACKED stage hosted Afrojack himself, and included his JACKED buddies like R3hab, Sidney Samson, Shermanology, Quintino, a b2b set from Bobby Burns & Leroy Styles, a b2b set from Bassjackers & Apster, RedFoo, and more.

Carl Cox & friends took over the enormous butterfly-themed stage. Fans danced their heart out to sets from Marco Bailey, John Digweed, Loco Dice, and - "oh yes, oh yes" - the king of techno himself, Carl Cox.

With a main stage set still left later on in the weekend, Steve Aoki and his label Dim Mak took over day one of Tomorrowland with the Dim Mak stage. In a carnival-style tent, Dim Mak fans flocked to the stage to form a crowd of people, who were spilling outside. Fans enjoyed sets from Felix Cartal, Botnek, Angger Dimas, Dirtyphonics, Datsik, Joachim Garraud, and the king of cake throwing and champagne showers, Steve Aoki. 

Holding the record for longest set at Tomorrowland day one was Markus Schulz. On his very own stage, the unicorn slayer played for 12 hours. Markus is no stranger to long sets, and of course among the trance tracks, he went down the rabbit hole with fans. Keep calm & slay unicorns.

With hardstyle becoming more and more popular, the Q-Dance stage featured a number of artists who made the entire place shake with their pounding beats, including one of hardstyle's favorites - Headhunterz. 

With day one down, day two brings a ton more music and excitement!

Photos: Nicole Mastrogiannis