A man who attended the Rabbits Eat Leaves festival says most attendees were taking drugs, and dealers were walking through the campsite spruiking their wares.
Jake, 26, told Daily Mail Australia MDMA, mushrooms, acid and marijuana were the drugs of choice at the festival on the Queensland/NSW border, and claimed: ‘everyone knows bush doofs are where people let loose and go feral’.
The revelation comes just hours after a man, 24, and a woman, 22, were found dead inside the tent they were sharing at the festival.
Police were called to the campsite in Elbow Valley about 9.30am on Monday after the two bodies were found.
A man and a woman have been found dead at the Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival
Officers are at the scene, and a spokesman for Queensland police told Daily Mail Australia there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths.
The spokesman said the bodies were found by ‘other festival goers’, and that the bodies will have to undergo a toxicology screening and post mortem before a cause of death can be officially revealed.
A spokesman for QLD Ambulance said paramedics were called to the scene about 9.55am to assess two people, but were unable to comment further.
The festival ended on Sunday, and party-goers were beginning to leave the campsite when the body was found.
A spokesperson for the festival told Daily Mail Australia Rabbits Eat Lettuce places the wellbeing and safety of its patrons as ‘the number one priority’.
‘All of the staff and community at Rabbits Eat Lettuce would like to pass on our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of those who were found deceased,’ they said.
‘Our thoughts and concerns are predominately for their wellbeing and privacy during this time.
‘It is absolutely heartbreaking to lose some beautiful souls that we consider part of our extended family.
‘We have highly trained first aid, professional paramedics working 24 hours during the festival and an on-call doctor onsite.
‘In addition, QLD Police & QLD Ambulance are on duty in a user pay capacity during the festival. We work together with authorities to ensure that the environment we provide is as safe as possible.
‘The relevant bodies will be investigating to determine exactly what happened. It is appropriate that we give them the chance to do their work and respect the deceased family’s right to privacy and avoid any speculation.’
A 26-year-old man who attended the festival said drug dealers were walking through the campsite spruiking their wares throughout the festival
Management for the festival are yet to answer questions on their drug policy, though the website says ‘illegal substances’ are banned.
Jake told Daily Mail Australia while police and drug dogs were in attendance, their presence was minimal compared to what has become the norm in NSW.
‘There were cops and dogs at the main entrance checking vehicles,’ he said.
‘There definitely was a police presence in there, but by no means was it as intense as it would of being like if it were in NSW.
‘There was heaps of people selling [drugs] in there.
‘Like three or four times we would be sitting in camp and someone would come up to us and try to sell us something.’
‘Pretty much whatever you want you can buy in there.’
The festival organisers said it was ‘absolutely heartbreaking to lose some beautiful souls that we consider part of our extended family’
A blurb for the festival describes the event as ‘a place of freedom, love and dance music’.
‘Come and camp in a beautiful natural environment and form a community of like-minded souls who want to escape the hustle and bustle of the city life,’ it reads.
‘Rabbits Eat Lettuce lets us be human again. We can dissolve the social barriers and dance together.’
The event moved to the Southern Downs in Queensland this year after a court battle regarding a sister event run by the same people.
Rabbits Eat Lettuce won an appeal on NSW Police’s decision that the event could not be held on a property south of Casino, but organisers were handed a $105,000 bill to have police attend the festival – which had a 3,000 person capacity.
Organiser Erik Lamir said at the time: ‘The current political state of play in NSW is not conducive to the festival industry’.
‘We feel that to ensure we can provide the best event and experience possible moving to QLD for at least the time being is the best decision for all involved.
‘We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, however we trust our family to understand that we always have you and the REL vibe as our core concern.’
More to come.
Police say the deaths are not suspicious, but have not released a cause of death