The first day of Splendour in the Grass has been cancelled due to extreme weather conditions after torrential rain turned the music festival into a mud pit.
Event organisers closed down all four of its main stages at the music festival at North Byron Parklands, in northern NSW, on Friday.
Smaller acts will continue to perform while on-site venues such as the Red Bull nightclub and Smirnoff tent will remain open.
‘A significant weather system is currently sitting off the east coast and may reach land later today bringing more rainfall,’ organisers said.
‘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.’
The first day of Splendour in the Grass has been cancelled due to extreme weather conditions after torrential rain turned the music festival into a mud pit

Event organisers closed down all four of its main stages at the music festival at North Byron Parklands, in northern NSW, on Friday

‘A significant weather system is currently sitting off the east coast and may reach land later today bringing more rainfall,’ organisers said
Revellers who had been waiting hours for the free shuttle to take them from Tweed Heads to the music festival were informed at the bus stop the first day of the festival was likely to be cancelled – hours before it was called off.
The famous music festival has spiralled into chaos with revellers being turned away in their cars at the front gates, tents collapsing from the heavy rain and festivalgoers demanding refunds for their $400 tickets.
Revellers complained they wanted to go home with one uploading a video to TikTok showing cars bogged in the mud accompanied by the soundtrack, ‘I wanna go home’.
‘Splendour in the swamp 2022,’ the caption read.
‘Splendour in the mud’, ‘splendour in the swamp’, and ‘splendour in the sludge’ are some of the names being thrown around to describe the mayhem.
One reveller claimed on TikTok that staff were confused, having no idea what was happening or where to send festivalgoers to set up camp.
‘I don’t know what the f*** is going on,’ she said in the video.
‘We were in the car for six-and-a-half hours and they [staff] finally made a makeshift campground in the day parking area.’
Another video showed party-goers trudging through ankle-high water in gumboots as they tried to get from one side of the festival to the other.

Revellers who had been waiting hours for the free shuttle to take them from Tweed Heads to the music festival were informed at the bus stop the first day of the festival was likely to be cancelled – hours before it was called off

The famous music festival has spiralled into chaos with revellers being turned away in their cars at the front gates, tents collapsing from the heavy rain and festivalgoers demanding refunds for their $400 tickets
Event organisers have provided regular updates on the Splendour in the Grass Facebook page.
‘Due to ongoing weather conditions we can no longer accept any campers or vehicles including day parking at North Byron Parklands (NBP),’ one post read.
‘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.’
Some social media users have been unsympathetic to the revellers, slamming their decision to travel to the festival despite forecasts for heavy rain.
‘1st world problems, oooo the camping ground we knew was soaked and flooded is soaked and flooded. Get a room or go home,’ one unsympathetic person wrote.

Splendour in the Grass revellers have said they want to go home on the first day of the festival after it was turned into a mud pit by torrential rain

The famous music festival has spiralled into chaos with revellers being turned away in their cars at the front gates, tents collapsing from the heavy rain and festivalgoers demanding refunds on for their $400 tickets

While many have put on brave faces and are still trying to enjoy the festival, others have questioned why it was able to go ahead in the first place

One reveller’s tent is seen completely soaked from the torrential rain
Another added: ‘How can they be furious… did they not check the weather? It was hardly surprising.’
Revellers complained of waiting in cars for 15 hours at the entrance before being turned away and told to set up camp at Byron Events Farm – 15kms away.
They have been informed free shuttles will be transporting them to the festival, but have had to wait hours for a seat.
While many have put on brave faces and are still trying to enjoy the festival, others have questioned why it was able to go ahead in the first place.
Volunteers, who offer to work for a free ticket, worked through Thursday night only for many to be rostered on to start their next shift within a matter of hours.
One festival-goer Steph told Daily Mail Australia she and her friends had driven down from the Gold Coast on Thursday only to sit in the queue heading into Splendour for nine hours.
After waiting for three-and-a-half hours her car made it to the front gate but there was still no sign of getting in.

Attendees have been unable to get inside the campgrounds to set up their tents due to the wet weather

Pictured is the massive queue of cars trying to make it into the festival
‘We asked another staff member what we should do and she said ”I don’t know” and that she was meant to finish hours ago but no one has told her anything,’ Steph said.
‘She was so cold and wet, she was clutching a hot water bottle and the volunteers and staff haven’t been offered any food. We offered one of the volunteers Pringles and honestly he was so happy.’
The group arrived in the queue at 3.30pm but by 1.30am they still had no updates from organisers about whether they’d make it inside to set up their tents.
They eventually decided to drive back to the Gold Coast.
‘People are only hearing how bad it is through the Splendour in the Grass 2022 page set up by people attending the festival,’ Steph said.
‘No official communications other than (the event’s) last story on Instagram and Facebook saying there’s delays and that the show will go on ”rain, hail or shine”.
Wandering up to the front of the queue, which was only 1.5km away, Steph said many had already chosen to spend the night sleeping in their cars.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk