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A 22-year-old Ivanhoe man has been arrested after allegedly exposing himself and assaulting police at Rainbow Serpent in the early hours of this morning. Police have called on witnesses to come forward following the alleged altercation between the man and officers at the electronic music festival’s site near Lexton about 2.25am. Officers allege the man became aggressive when approached by police, spitting and kicking at members before being arrested and taken to Ballarat police station. He is expected to be charged with assaulting police, resisting arrest and indecent exposure. Meanwhile, a 22-year-old Balwyn North man was allegedly caught with cocaine and LSD paraphernalia at the festival on Saturday. He was charged with drug trafficking and possession offences and was bailed to appear in a court at a later date. A 39-year-old Melbourne man also allegedly blew 0.136 in a car near the site about 12.30pm on Saturday. While not addressing these incidents directly, Rainbow director Tim Harvey previously said at the weekend his team saw drug use as a serious health issue. “We work closely with security and Victoria Police to provide a safe environment for our patrons,” he said. “While we strongly urge patrons not to bring drugs to the festival and security conduct car searches, we recognise that if drugs can make it into prisons the reality is some will find their way into our festival. “Rainbow has worked closely to support all Victoria Police operations over the weekend. “We share a strong commitment to harm reduction principles and over the last 20 years have always enjoyed a productive relationship with the police on the ground.” It has been a tumultuous weekend at Rainbow Serpent after a grassfire, pictured above, edged close to the campsite on Friday afternoon. CFA crews managed to contain the blaze before an evacuation of the festival was needed, bringing it under control about 4.30pm. A witness said he saw a lightning bolt strike a hill before flames emerged about five minutes later. “I heard a crack of lightning and down it went, it was a shock, it was loud,” he said. “There was wind and the flames spread quickly, but then CFA trucks got on top of it and then the rain came through.” The festival winds up tomorrow at noon.

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