Just three-hours before Queenstown Mardi Gras was set to start, 5000 would-be festival goers were told mud had thwarted the day.
Ticket holders, many already in their costumes when the festival was canned, labelled the situation shambolic. But the party didn’t stop, instead moving to Queenstown city, with some bars scrambling to handle the sudden influx, according to party goers.
More than 17 artists were set to play at the sellout festival at Queenstown’s Warren Park, but instead played in bars across the city.
Eva Malthus (in green) was one of 5000 people set to attend the Queenstown Mardi Gras before it was cancelled just three-hours before gates were set to open.
Festival organiser Mitch Lowe said it had to be cancelled for safety reasons, after the fire service said ground conditions would prevent it from responding to any incidents.
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In the lead up, we tried to mitigate all problems due to the continuous rain. This included elements such as extra turf protection and 4×4 medical vehicles, Lowe said.
Photos from Queenstown’s Warren Park on Saturday morning showed the ground remained sodden, with major mud puddles.
That morning, Lowe said a meeting with council, emergency services and staff unanimously decided to cancel the festival.
Their decision confused many ticket holders, who noted it was a sunny day in Queenstown. Lowe said there had been hope the sun would dry out the saturated ground, but the fire service said it was still too risky.
Queenstown festival Mardi Gras was cancelled due to rain damage at the venue.
The weather cleared up early, and we held onto a glimmer of hope, however fire confirmed they would not be able to access the site in an emergency, he said.
Like many of the festival goers, Eva Malthus had travelled to Queenstown for the weekend. She struggled to understand how organisers only realised the fire service wouldn’t be able to access the grounds on Saturday morning.
Its just poor organisation. It had been raining for days leading up, so Im unsure why they couldnt have predicted that it might be to muddy and cancelled it earlier, she said. It was a shambles
The annoying part was that it was a blue bird beautiful day. Yes, it had been raining in weeks leading up, but what did they expect? Its an outside event in the middle of Queenstown, rain and mud are givens. They also posted on the page to bring your gumboots the night before, so everyone felt antagonised.
Sun didnt clear the mud at Queenstown Mardi Gras.
Lowes company, Audiology Touring, confirmed automatic refunds and organised for the festivals acts to perform at bars across Queenstown on Saturday night. A Sunday evening show at another Queenstown venue was also locked in.
Our team worked as fast as humanly possible to lock in five venues in the CBD, and we had every Mardi Gras artist still perform somewhere in town. Very proud of the efforts that went in, however well always be disappointed that we couldnt provide a solution for everyone, he said.
Tickets for the Saturday night contingency shows quickly sold out. Tickets for the Sunday evening show would be on sale at Ticket Fairy.