Absolut and Yinka Ilori unveil Tomorrowland installation
Pernod Ricard-owned Absolut Vodka has teamed up with British-Nigerian designer Yinka Ilori MBE at Tomorrowland.
Ilori, who serves as creative director for the vodka brand’s Tomorrowland activations, has created an immersive art experience at the Belgian electronic music festival.
The space invites festivalgoers to celebrate the joy of coming together through visual art and movement. It features an immersive art room, interactive cylinders, a dance floor, a DJ booth, and an Absolut cocktail bar.
The interactive environment responds to guests in real time, allowing them to shape the projections around them into evolving layers of colour, light and shadows as they move through the space. It draws inspiration from global movement traditions such as West African masquerade, Brazilian capoeira and Persian Sufi whirling.
It made its debut at Tomorrowland’s first weekend last week (17-19 July) and will be on show again for the festival’s second weekend (24-26 July).
It marks both the first time Ilori’s work has appeared at a music festival and Absolut’s first artistic collaboration in the festival space.
Ilori said: “Everything I create begins with people. I think about how spaces can make us feel welcome, connected and part of something bigger than ourselves. That’s what made this collaboration with Absolut so exciting: our shared interest in bringing people together.
“Tomorrowland is already a place where people experience joy, freedom and belonging through music. My role has been to build on that energy and design an experience that invites people to participate, connect and create memories together.
“What interested me about this project was creating something people could actively engage with; something where interaction itself becomes part of the experience.”
Absolut serves as Tomorrowland’s official vodka and has partnered with the festival since 2017.
The partnership has formed a United We Dance platform over the years, with Absolut also working with the festival to address issues such as mental health and loneliness, and champion the importance of connections.
Craig van Niekerk, global vice-president of marketing at Absolut, said: “Absolut is excited to be working with Yinka Ilori as part of our festival activation in 2026, reinforcing and continuing our artistic legacy.
“Festivals are a key moment for our consumers to connect, with data showing that 70% of festivalgoers are Gen Z or Millennials and through our partnership with Yinka we are creating a new experience for them that moves beyond celebration and allows meaningful connection.
“Yinka’s work is rooted in joy, community and togetherness; values that sit at the heart of Absolut and our United We Dance partnership with Tomorrowland. We look forward to continuing to evolve this in ways that engage our consumers and make the expected more imaginative.”
In addition to Ilori, Absolut’s other partnerships with artists and designers have included collaborations with the foundations of Andy Warhol and Keith Haring.
Earlier in the year, the brand collaborated with Tabasco on 2026’s ‘hottest’ new vodka.
Van Niekerk has also spoken to The Spirits Business about how Absolut is making the vodka category culturally relevant again.
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