Australia’s largest music festival sinks in the mud and forces cancellation on the first day

Australia’s largest music festival sinks in the mud and forces cancellation on the first day

Sydney — Australia’s largest music festival has become muddy, and concert attendees have complained of flooding of swamps and tents, forcing organizers to cancel the first day of their performance.

Fans were excited about the resurgence of Splendor in the Grass, a three-day festival featuring international acts such as Liam Gallagher, Gorillaz, Tyler, the Creator, and The Strokes, after a two-year pandemic pause.

However, the week-long rainy weather along the coast of New South Wales created a dangerous situation at the festival venue near Byron Bay, an upscale coastal town popular with Hollywood celebrities.

“The weather and staff shortages were all worse than expected,” the organizers said after canceling the program on Friday.

“Currently, an important meteorological system is off the east coast and could reach land late today to increase rainfall,” the organizer said in a statement posted on the event’s Facebook page. Stated.

“For the safety of our patrons, and in consultation with all relevant ambulance crews, we neglected and decided to cancel the performance on the main stage only today.”

About 50,000 people will attend this year’s festival, most of whom paid A $ 189 ($ 130) for a one-day pass to A $ 399 ($ ​​275) for three days.

Photos and videos posted on social media showed the muddy water and dozens of festival attendees dressed in ponchos bravely confronting heavy rains. Many lamented the bad organization of the event and shared their “nightmare experience” on social media to deal with meandering traffic jams and dead cars as people tried to get in and out of the festival venue. ..

One participant said he was stuck in a car for 8.5 hours and likened the event to Australia’s “Fyre Festival.” The event was touted as a five-star experience in the Bahamas in 2017 and was nothing more than a tent and a bad thing. sandwich.

“I don’t have any staff or information. I think it’s an Australian Fyre Festival. It’s a hellish landscape of Splendor,” he said.

Others called for the festival to be canceled for public security. “I honestly think that if the safety of both staff and attendees is our top priority, we should cancel,” said one Facebook user.

However, the organizers vowed that the show could continue on Saturday and Sunday. “Our event team is working very hard to provide the best possible experience under the current circumstances,” they said in a statement.

“I’m looking forward to programming on Saturday and Sunday as planned.”

Australia experienced a particularly rainy winter interrupted by floods along the east coast, as much of the world became hot and humid during the summer heat waves.

Experts said that the climate crisis increased the frequency and intensity of the La Niña meteorological system, resulting in above-average rainfall.

Earlier this month, a catastrophic flood struck Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, damaging homes awaiting repairs from previous floods and forcing businesses to close. — CNN