In a statement on Saturday,organisers said that the festival would kick off after a relatively dry Friday night and sunny Saturday morning helped protect the North Byron Parklands from further rain damage.
Sydney’s skyline on Saturday morning.Nine
However,organisers warned patrons to expect delays and allow for further travel time getting to and from the site.
International headliners The Strokes,Glass Animals and Jack Harlow will take to the festival’s largest stage,the Amphitheatre,on Saturday night as the event returns for the first time since 2019.
The green light for the festival to go ahead came as more rainy weather was forecast for Sydney across Saturday before conditions are predicted to ease over Sunday and Monday in advance of rain returning with a cold front on Tuesday.
“Sydney can expect showers today,” the Bureau of Meteorology’s Olenka Duma said. “We’ll see a few bands of rain moving in with south-easterly winds on Saturday.
“The winds will shift on Sunday and showers are expected to ease and shift towards the coastal areas. We will see less showers on Sunday and even fewer on Monday.”
A cold front headed for the harbour city on Tuesday will bring with it the return of heavy showers,she said.
“It’s going to be wet,on and off.”
The wet weather that has wreaked havoc on this year’s Splendour in the Grass festival is easing,she said.
Byron Bay's Splendour In The Grass campsite has become inundated with flooding and muddy grounds after heavy rain.
“We are still expecting light to moderate showers on Saturday;there are currently bands of showers over the Byron Bay area.
“That will continue,but we’re expecting an easing trend on Saturday and Sunday as the east coast low moves away.
“People at Splendour might still see the odd shower,but it’s generally an easing trend - the showers will be a lot less intense and frequent.”
The forecast will be welcome news to Splendour in the Grass ticketholders and organisers,who were forced to cancel acts on all four main stages of the festival on Friday.
“This is definitely the worst weather that we’ve experienced at Splendour in its 20-year history,” Splendour in the Grass co-founder Jessica Ducrou said on Friday.
“As quickly as the mud arrives,we are doing repair works during the event and after the event to try and keep the show operating.”
Ducrou said ticketholders would be refunded for missing Friday’s events.
On Thursday night,
Splendour in the Grass was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
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