Splendour in the Grass organisers were forced to take action after wild weather turned the event’s first day into a muddy nightmare.
Splendour in the Grass organisers have cancelled all major acts on the music festival’s opening night after horrendous wet weather flooded the site in Byron Bay.
In a statement, organisers for the event said the decision was made to shut down all four main stages for Friday due to a “significant weather system” which is currently sitting off the east coast and may reach land later today bringing even more wet weather.
“In the interest of patron safety and in consultation with all relevant emergency services, we have decided to err on the side of caution and cancel performances on the main stages today only – Amphitheatre, Mix Up, GW McLeannan and Park(lands) stages," the statement read.
All of the destination spaces, such as Global Village, Tipi Forest, Forum, Comedy and Science tents will remain open today for patrons who are already onsite, as well as the people at the satellite campground at Bryon Events Farm.
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Statement from Splendour in the Grass organisers pic.twitter.com/zcROtIEKex
“Please relax and enjoy what is open. Day patrons are asked not to attend the festival today while we work on repairs,” event organisers said.
“In the coming week Moshtix will be in contact with the ticket holders affected directly, via the email address used to purchase their ticket, for further information on refunds.
“We ask for patience while we work through the refund process. Please be assured that our event team is working very hard to provide the best experience possible under the current circumstances.”
At the moment, programming for Saturday and Sunday is expected to move ahead “as planned.”
All of the main stage musical acts have been cancelled for Friday, although smaller acts are expected to play and all the activations – including the Red Bull nightclub and the Smirnoff tent – will remain open.
News.com.au was told by third party sources involved with the festival that the Amphitheatre – the main stage at the grounds – was cancelled due to its location on a hill.
They said organisers were now looking into moving some of tonight’s headline acts – including Gorillaz and The Avalanches – to some of the smaller stages on site.
The Gorillaz were due to headline Splendour on Friday night with a 90-minute set from 10.30pm.
Aussie rock band DMA’s and electronic group The Avalanches were also set to play on the main stage.
US rap star Jack Harlow and American rock band The Strokes are set to headline on Saturday, while Grinspoon, Liam Gallagher and Tyler, The Creator are pencilled in for Sunday.
The decision to shut down the main stages comes after multiple people called for the festival to be cancelled due to wild weather leaving the camp grounds inundated with water and people waiting hours to even get into the site.
People heading to the festival today have been left confused, with many stranded at different bus stops after being told of the cancellation.
Mass confusion at the BB bus transfer for #SITG22 as 100s q. Cancelled or not? Back to the pub I think. #Splendourinthegrasspic.twitter.com/9F5cJFC15v
One Twitter user uploaded a video of a person in a high-vis vest informing a group of attendees that he had received word that a number of performances had been cancelled.
“The information that has just come through to me is it is not official yet but it is likely due to the unforeseen weather circumstances down at the site that all performances will be cancelled today,” he said.
“They are going to be turning people back from the site. So you would get on a bus and then they would send you back anyway.”
Splendour in the grass 2022 cancelled pic.twitter.com/kK4q10hkgr
Earlier this morning festival organisers announced they were no longer accepting any campers or vehicles at North Byron Parklands due to the ongoing weather situation.
People arriving for the four-day festival yesterday were faced with 12-hour queues just to get into the camping grounds, with organisers forced to extend the entry hours to try and get people into the festival.
Attendees were instead redirected to Byron Events Farm in Tyagara with free bus shuttles between the sites available.
“We thank you for your patience here and big shout out to our staff who are working around Mother Nature to get you in here safely,” a message from organisers read.
“Please be kind and patient.”
Wild scenes at festival camp ground
While the event is normally blessed with sunshine and clear skies, the current bout of inclement weather has created chaos for people at the festival.
Some have even termed the three-day festival event ‘Splendour in the Lake’ and the ‘Survival of the Fittest’.
One Twitter user, Steve Strickland described the situation as “potentially life threatening due to the horrific weather conditions and traffic jams.
“People are going to get pneumonia and exposure. The festival should be cancelled and everyone evacuated,” he said.
One festival-goer, Kate O’Hagan, said she was hoping event organisers would cancel the festival so she could go home.
“We are parked in by thousands of cars and tents we can literally not leave,” she said.
Splendour in the grass 2022, really hoping for a cancel-refund tickets- let me go home announcement asap xxx @SITGpic.twitter.com/xioLqzFRUp
We have been this queue for HOURS - since 4pm. We’ve been driving since 6am. Cars running out of petrol. Cars bogged. This is unsafe, and inhumane. @SITG#splendourinthegrasspic.twitter.com/oMU9fawXVr
Another attendee took to Twitter last night after waiting in line to enter the festival for 11 hours, blasting the organisers for the “inhumane” situation.
“We have been this queue for HOURS – since 4pm. We’ve been driving since 6am. Cars running out of petrol. Cars bogged. This is unsafe, and inhumane,” she wrote.
“Update: 2:30am we have decided to give up and sleep in the back of the car while still in our queue position that hasn’t moved in the last 2-3 hours. There’s nothing we can do. No way in, no way out.”
The SES have been called in to assess the situation, with a spokesperson telling The Daily Telegraph they would support a decision to evacuate the festival if it comes to that.
“There’s heaps of rain in the campgrounds, but it’s not flooded. It’s just still water and heavy mud,” the spokesperson said.
“If (the festival) makes a decision to evacuate, we’ll support that. We’ve got a crew of about five or six members in the festival grounds and 30 to 40 altogether.”
Shocking footage shared on TikTok shows the site absolutely saturated with large pools of muddy water as rain pelts down, with desperate attendees in plastic ponchos forced to huddle together by undercover benches in a desperate bid to stay warm.
In one clip shared by TikTok user @montanakennedy, she captioned the grim scenes: “We have progressed to splendour in the lake”.
In the comments people shared their horror.
“Total Fyre Festival vibes,” wrote on user.
“I’ll rock up in a canoe if I have too I will be there,” shared another.
“I’m honestly surprised it wasn’t cancelled at this point.”
The campsites weren’t much better. In another video, tents were pelted with rain, while the grounds were sodden with mud.
And there’s more bad weather on the way, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting a 100 per cent chance of rain on Friday and a high chance of showers on Saturday in the Byron Bay region.
2022 is the first year Splendour in the Grass has returned to being an in-person event at the Byron Bay parklands, after the pandemic restricted high capacity in-person events.
The 2020 festival was initially postponed until October before being cancelled. The 2021 event followed a similar trajectory, however, music organisers shifted to an online Splendour XR format, which was done in collaboration with virtual live events platform Sansar.
Weather to get worse before it gets better
Unfortunately for festivalgoers, they are set to endure another day of wet weather on Friday, which will undoubtedly add to the already boggy conditions.
A Bureau of Meteorology spokesperson told news.com.au that Friday is set to be the “wettest day” of the forecast for the area, though the situation will start to ease heading into the weekend.
“We could see up to 30mm of rain across Byron by the end of today,” he said.
“There will still be a few showers around tomorrow but not a huge amount of rain is expected to fall.”
Going into Sunday conditions are expected to be mostly dry, with about 1mm of rain forecast.
A maximum temperature of 17 degrees is forecast for Friday with a near 100 per cent chance of rain.
The temperature is set to range from 14C to 18C on Saturday before the rains will hopefully clear on Sunday, with BOM forecasting mostly sunny conditions and a temperature range of 13C to 19C.
As it stands, sunny conditions are predicted for Monday, with a maximum of 19C and minimum of 13C.
There is currently also a severe weather warning for the Northern Rivers areas of NSW, which encompasses Byron Bay. The Bureau of Meteorology issued the alert for damaging surf on Friday morning.
An offshore east coast low near southern Queensland is expected to produce “significant waves” of up to 5m, with the Bureau warning people to stay away from the beaches, surf and surf exposed areas.
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