Pitch Festival Issues Fire Danger Warning, Advises Punters To Delay Arrivals

Pitch Music & Arts Festival is advising punters to delay their arrivals to the Moyston grounds due to advice from the Country Fire Authority (CFA).

The weather in Melbourne on this long weekend is set to hit 37, 37, and 36 degrees Celsius, while in Moyston, over 200 kilometres from central Melbourne, it is forecast to be 37, 35, and 34 degrees Celsius. Other areas are expected to rise above 40.

With the hot and dry conditions – it hasn’t rained properly in Victoria since mid-February – the CFA has issued an Extreme Fire Danger Rating for the South West Weather District. There’s also a Total Fire Ban in effect.

The site for Pitch Music & Arts Festival is included in the Extreme Fire Danger Rating for the South West Weather District. According to a post shared by the festival organisers, the CFA has given the following advice: if you’re already on the grounds, the safest thing to do is leave as early in the morning as possible.

Furthermore, Pitch recommends delaying your arrival at the festival if you plan to head over there today. The festival added that there are no active fires in the region. However, fires in nearby areas happened just a week ago, so there’s a chance some people might not feel safe.

Some music programming will be rescheduled throughout the day. You can read Pitch’s complete statement below.

Pitch’s statement has been seen by thousands of viewers and received over 650 comments, most of which expressed disappointment that the festival hasn’t been cancelled or postponed.

Others have asked about the festival’s evacuation plan if the worst does occur, refunds, and what happens with buses – the shuttle buses that punters were due to take to the event have been cancelled today and will resume tomorrow.

Meanwhile, social media reports indicate that people on the ground since yesterday have had no phone signal and expressed concerns that family members and friends might not know about the warnings. Pitch has told concerned commenters that the essential information has also been shared on-site.

Last week, the set times for Pitch Festival dropped, although if anyone follows their Instagram account, they’ll see that set times have already changed.

Pitch will donate $1 for every food item sold at the on-site Community BBQ to aid in the rebuilding and recovery efforts for the bushfire-affected community of Pomonal. Festivalgoers are encouraged to contribute to this cause by purchasing burgers, sausage sizzles, and bacon and egg rolls from the community BBQ.

The full lineup boasts an impressive array of electronic artists, including 999999999, Ahadadream, Akua, Anz, Lady Shaka, Edd Fisher, Franck The Operatives, Claire O’Brien, Marli, CaucasianOpportunities, Hannah D and many more.

Pitch Music & Arts Festival’s statement about fire danger this weekend:

People of Pitch, Update as of 12AM 09/03/24 —

CFA have advised the Bureau of Metrology have forecast an Extreme Fire Danger Rating for the South West Weather District for Saturday 9 March 2024. This includes the site for the Pitch Music and Arts Festival. Further CFA has declared a Total Fire Ban for this area for
Saturday.

The CFA recommends that the safest option for those who are already on site is to leave the site tonight or early in the morning.

The CFA advises the fire danger rating is Extreme which recommends you reconsider travel through bushfire risk areas and that leaving bushfire risk areas early in the day is your safest option because fires will spread quickly and be extremely dangerous. Expect hot, dry and
windy conditions.

If you are arriving on Saturday we recommend delaying your arrival until further notice.

The forecast tells us to expect hot weather each day of the festival. In addition, overnights will also be warm.

The Department of Health has released a warning around the expected heat wave this weekend, and the CFA have updated their fire danger rating which stipulates to reconsider travel through bushfire risk areas and that leaving bushfire risk areas early in the day is your safest option.

To clarify, there are currently no active fires in the region. Please refer to the Emergency Vic website for updates.

Some music programming will be rescheduled.

Please swipe for more information on our Party Safe Guidelines.

If you have further questions, please email hello@pitchfestival.com.au

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