Organisers say conditions are too dangerous to go ahead, as Sydney comes under increasing pressure over New Year’s Eve fireworks

This article is more than 8 months old

This article is more than 8 months old

Falls Festival in Lorne has been cancelled and Sydney faces increased pressure to cancel its New Year’s Eve fireworks as a heatwave brings a return to extreme bushfire risk conditions.

In a statement on Sunday morning, the organisers of the long-running New Year’s Eve festival at Lorne, 142km west of Melbourne, said conditions were too dangerous to go ahead.

The festival began on Saturday and was slated to run until New Year’s Eve. Some 9,000 attendees are already camping on site.

Temperatures in Lorne are forecast to reach 40C on Monday. The festival is held on private land surrounded by bushland and ringed by the Great Otway national park. Congestion from festival goers trying to leave on a single dirt track means it takes hours for the campground to clear at the end of a normal festival.

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“It is with a heavy heart we have had to cancel the remaining days of the Falls Festival in Lorne due to the predicted extreme weather conditions forecast for Monday December 30th in the Otways and surrounding region, creating a risk to health and safety due to potential fires, smoke, severe winds and tree hazards,” the statement said.

“The decision has not been made lightly. Our patron and staff safety is our priority.”

Organisers said the weather forecast had become “significantly worse in the past 12 hours”. That information was not available before campers began arriving for the event on Saturday, they said.

“After consultation with local and regional fire authorities and other emergency stakeholders, it is clear that we have no other option,” they said.

“While conditions are fine at time of writing, we are taking the opportunity to move everyone offsite safely and in good time.

“For those 9,000 currently staying onsite we ask you calmly pack up your campsite and return to your place of origin. There is no need to rush. Please ensure you have a sober driver.”

Gates to the Lorne festival will close at 9am Monday. Three-day festivals in Marion Bay in Tasmania, Byron Bay in New South Wales, and Fremantle in WA, will go ahead. Tickets for the Lorne festival will be refunded.

The fire danger for all Victoria, except for the north-east and east Gippsland, which are not as severely in drought, is extreme on Monday. The rating for the north-east and east Gippsland is severe.

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In New South Wales the worst fire danger coincides with New Year’s Eve, with severe to extreme conditions in eight regions, from the greater Hunter and greater Sydney regions to the far south coast.

Response to the announcement on the festival’s Facebook page has been split between anger from revellers who say the organisers should have decided to hold it in a different location – as happened in 2015 when a bushfire threatened the Lorne venue – and praise from people who do not appear to be attending the festival, for putting safety first.

Some social media users wondered whether the future of the event was in doubt.

Smokie Dawson (@smokiedawson) It’s a great event, and my sons have been regulars for years. But you wonder if #FallsFestival can continue at its present location in the future https://t.co/JR12oXqrGM

Triple J presenter Bridget Hustwaite also pointed to the “vulnerable location” of the festival and criticised festival-goers who attacked the organisers’ decision.

Bridget Hustwaite (@BHustwaite) The Otways is such a vulnerable location when it comes to this kind of heat and the risk of fires. Unfortunately because the event has already kicked off, it’s impossible for them to pull a 2015 and move to Mt Duneed. It’s a bummer but it’s better safe than sorry!

Bridget Hustwaite (@BHustwaite) Glad to see majority of punters being understanding but takes like this, omfg. You reckon they woke up today and were like “might fck around and cancel Lorne today”? 🤦🏼‍♀️ can you imagine trying to evacuate tens of thousands of people? It’s not worth the risk y’all! pic.twitter.com/YNZgfmZn4y

Some commentators said the Marion Bay festival should also be cancelled.

The fire danger for the upper Derwent valley and south-east of Tasmania, which includes Marion Bay, are listed to be extreme on Monday. Hobart is forecast to reach 40C – a rarity in a state where summer temperatures rarely top 30C – and Marion Bay is forecast to reach 38C.

More than 260,000 people have signed a petition seeking to cancel New Year’s Eve fireworks in Sydney, but the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said on Sunday they would go ahead unless the fire service advised otherwise.

Berejiklian said the fireworks sent a message to NSW to stay strong during the bushfire season.

“NSW has always been a state hopeful about the future, resilient and optimistic,” she said. “We need to stay strong so we can keep supporting our communities that are doing it tough. And Sydney is one of the first cities in the world welcoming in the new year.

“If it is safe to do so, we should continue to do it as we have done every other year.”

Numerous smaller fireworks displays around the state have been cancelled for New Year’s Eve, including in Canberra. The ACT government announced on Sunday afternoon that two planned shows would not go ahead because the territory would be under a total fire ban.

Andrew Barr MLA (@ABarrMLA) Due to today’s Total Fire Ban declaration the two fireworks shows at the New Year’s Eve in the City event will NOT go ahead. https://t.co/QK0qyVhzw7

The NSW fire commissioner, Shane Fitzsimmons, said the final decision on Sydney would be made after the forecast for New Year’s Eve was issued on Tuesday morning.

Fitzsimmons said he could not remember a time when the risk of fireworks on the harbour could not be accommodated, but if he felt the risk was too high he would not allow them to go ahead, even if it meant a significant financial loss for the state.

The lord mayor, Clover Moore, has not moved from her position set out two weeks ago that the fireworks were planned 15 months in advance and could not be canned.

She said the display generated $130m for the NSW economy.

Sydney is forecast to reach 35C on New Year’s Eve, with 44C forecast for Penrith in western Sydney.

The City of Sydney celebrations are expected to attract a million people to the harbour foreshore.



