One person has died, and six people have been hospitalised following the Sydney leg of Dreamstate Festival on Saturday (7 February).
According to reports from Billboard and TMZ, NSW Police were patrolling the electronic music festival at Sydney’s Olympic Park over the weekend and discovered multiple punters experiencing “medical episodes.”
The Sydney Morning Herald additionally reported that a man in his 40s died on the scene but had yet to be formally identified. Another six festivalgoers were transported to the hospital, with one in critical condition as of yesterday morning.
The Music reached out to festival organisers for comment, but at the time of publication, received no response.
9 News Australia reports that the man in his 40s may have suffered cardiac arrest, with investigators looking into a suspected drug overdose and police examining a potential mass drug overdose incident at the festival.
In a statement to People, a spokesperson for NSW Police said, “A crime scene has been established, and police commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
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Following the incident, NSW’s Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy, John Graham, told the ABC that “there was no trial pill-testing facility available at the event,” but added that the festival had a “safety action plan” in place.
An NSW Health spokesperson added, “A range of harm reduction initiatives are in place at festivals, including support and health promotion workers, health messaging, free chilled water, misting fans, chill-out spaces and well-equipped medical services.”
The festival, described as “the ultimate trance and techno destination, starred a line-up featuring Paul van Dyk, Vini Vici, Gareth Emery, Ben Nicky and Giuseppe Ottaviani.
Following the Sydney event, Dreamstate continued with an event at Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse on Sunday, 8 February. Before the Melbourne event took place, festival organisers shared a warning from Vic Health about high-dose MDMA capsules circulating throughout the state via their Instagram Stories.
Last Tuesday (3 February), NSW Health also issued a warning about high-dose MDMA following pill-testing services held at other music festivals in Sydney and across the Central Coast throughout the summer festival season.
