20,000 Evacuated From Sydney Good Life Festival As Storm Hits

Police and event staff at yesterday’s Good Life festival successfully evacuated almost 20,000 people from the event after a flash storm tore across Sydney.

The under-18 sister festival to Future Music took place at Sydney's Randwick Racecourse and was halted around 4pm when the storms hit (as was fellow Sydney event Soundwave).

According to eyewitness reports the side of a stage blew out as the eastern fences and structures took the brunt of the damage. Police escorted revellers to the Racecourse Grandstand during the height of the storm and there were no reported injuries during the operation.

A statement from the promoters said winds reached speeds of 91km/per hour and at 4.30pm "a further decision was made to close the event based on damage sustained to staging and equipment, and the forecast of further severe thunderstorms and winds of up to 100km/per hour."

“Eventgoers were instructed to wait in the grandstands while storms passed through,” Superintendent Gavin Dengate said.

“Festival staff then cleared the site so people could walk back into the main area to collect their belongings.

“The youths were very well behaved and having a great time at the concert before the inclement weather started. We commend them on complying with our instructions… Unfortunately, mother nature threw us a curve ball with this event, but it’s great to work with dedicated professionals where our main priority is the safety of revellers.”

He added, “Our close working relationship with event organisers resulted in no injuries as a result of the storms and evacuations.”

There was only one arrest out of the near-20,000 festival-goers, with a male youth allegedly assaulting a police officer. He will appear at children’s court.

Approximately 90 percent of items left in cloak and locker rooms have been claimed, with the remaining items transferred ATC reception at Randwick Racecourse. They are available for collection from today.