Red Hot Summer Date Cancelled By Wild Weather

The Red Hot Summer Tour date at Port Macquarie, NSW, which was due to take place this afternoon, has been cancelled following wild weather.

As 9 News reports, a "freak storm" damaged a hospital building and ripped a roof from an apartment building yesterday afternoon. The New South Wales State Emergency Services (SES) reportedly received calls for over 50 incidents in just half an hour for fallen trees on cars, flooding, and powerful winds. 

Organisers for the Red Hot Summer Tour in Port Macquarie made the call to cancel today's event, as the safety of patrons, performers and crews come first. The site also faced significant infrastructure damage. 

"Due to damage sustained in a Super Cell storm this afternoon, tomorrows Red Hot Summer Tour at Westport Park, Port Macquarie, will not be proceeding," organisers wrote on Facebook at around 5:30 pm AEDT yesterday. 

They added, "Severe damage was caused to Staging, Production and Site Infrastructure, leaving promoters with no alternative other than to cancel the event. Promoters and artists are working with the venue to secure an alternative date for the event, and we will have updates for you in coming hours. Should a new date become a possibility, patrons will be given the option to attend the new show date with their current ticket or if unable to attend they will receive a full refund."

A new date hasn't been announced yet. This year's Red Hot Summer Tour is packed with performances by Paul Kelly, Bernard Fanning, Missy Higgins, Vika & Linda, Mark Seymour, and the joined force of duo Ian Moss and Troy Cassar-Daly.

Red Hot Summer Tour isn't the first event to be cancelled due to wild weather in recent weeks. Last weekend, Elton John's concert and Laneway NZ, held in Auckland, were cancelled due to flooding.

Despite the weather conditions, thousands of people flocked to Mt Smart Stadium to watch Elton John. Organisers reportedly didn't cancel the event until fifteen minutes before John was due to take the stage. 

"For the organisers to drag it on, they knew what the weather was like, is appalling. I’m in the Uber now; we’ve driven through floods getting home," concertgoer Susannah Shackel commented to Stuff. "I don’t care about the money. The danger that they’ve put people in is pretty bad form." The following night's Elton John concert was also cancelled.

John also shared that he was "absolutely heartbroken" by the cancellation.

"Unfortunately, due to the unprecedented weather event in Auckland we have made the heartbreaking decision to cancel Laneway Festival," Laneway NZ organisers wrote the day before the event.

They added, "We were so excited to deliver this show to our biggest crowd ever in New Zealand, our team has been working around the clock to do everything they can to salvage the site, but the damage and disruption caused by the weather has meant that it is no longer safe to proceed."