Day one of Splendour in the Grass has been cancelled due to torrential conditions

Hopeful revellers at Splendour in the Grass on the NSW North Coast have been left seriously disappointed following torrential rain in the Northern Rivers, which has flooded parts of the festival’s campground, throwing both the festival and surrounding region into a state of muddy chaos. Day one of the festival has been cancelled, with organisers announcing that due to an extreme wet weather system currently sitting on the East Coast, all performances on the main stage will not be going ahead today. 

As it currently stands, days two and three of the festival are set to go ahead, with major international acts like Tyler the Creator, the Strokes and the Gorillaz all set to take to the main stage over the weekend. 

Despite festival organisers saying that the show would go on, “rain, hail or shine”, some attendees are asking for a refund on their tickets after having to wait on the road in a queue of thousands on Thursday afternoon. It has been reported that people had to wait in their cars for up to 15 hours to get into the water-inundated campground, with many of them sleeping in their vehicles in the backed-up queue overnight.

Following a grim night, where attendees took to social media to report on the levels of rainy mayhem, Splendour released a statement announcing that the festival’s on-site campground has been officially closed to new arrivals. With ongoing wet weather that isn’t expected to ease until Monday, organisers have been directing people to an off-site campground instead. 

Attendees have taken to social media to ask for refunds, and Splendour in the Grass released a new statement saying that Moshtix would be in contact with all ticket-holders that had been affected by today's cancellation in the coming weeks. 

This year’s Splendour is the first since 2019, with it reported that the festival had gone all out for its post-Covid comeback, increasing the usual 40,000 capacity level to 50,000, a move that has added extra pressure to the existing site infrastructure. 

Due to the magnitude of the recent rains in the Northern Rivers, the water table is already very high, meaning that it doesn’t take much for a low-lying area to tip over into flood territory. Following the tragic floods that hit the Northern Rivers earlier this year and unprecedented wild rain levels, the festival has been criticised by locals and attendees for not taking the existing conditions into account. Organisers released a statement saying that the weather and staff shortages had been much worse than expected. 

Not keen on camping in the torrential rain on your holiday? Check out our list of the best tiny houses and cabins you can rent around Sydney.