A suspected drug overdose and the forces of nature brought Pitch Music & Arts 2024, a long weekend camping festival in Victoria, Australia to its seventh edition.
The pill test is back in the national headlines after a 23-year-old man, who had allegedly taken black market drugs, died after being airlifted to The Alfred Hospital in festival-greens-suspected-overdose-cancellation/” target=”_blank”>on Sunday mornings.
“Our thoughts are with their family and friends. We have our Crowd Care team on site to support customers and staff and are committed to providing support services to those who need them,” a statement from the organizers said.
The identity of the man, from Niddrie in Melbourne's north-west, has not been released. “We cannot comment further at this time given the need to protect the privacy of those affected,” the statement continued.
As party-goers and their families absorbed the news of a suspected drug-related death, Greens spokesman Eve Pullielli called on the state government to “shift gears and finally introduce pill testing” at music events.
“While this Labor government continues to delay,” Puglielli added in a statement, “the lives of young Victorians are being put at risk.” Even with 'pure MDMA we have seen how extreme heat can cause a fatal blow. So with the untested drugs out there, this was really a disaster waiting to happen.”
According festival” rel=”nofollow” target=”_blank”>the guardiantwo other men, aged 30 and 40, were taken to East Grampians Health Service with suspected overdoses and are said to be in a stable condition.
The pill trials were trialled at the Spilled Milk festival in Canberra, paving the way for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government to launch the country's first fixed-site health and drug screening service as a six-month pilot in July 2022. service has now been extended until December 2024.
Victoria's leadership, however, has no current plans to trial pill trials in the state, although a spokesman told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation earlier this year that $21 million of taxpayers' money is spent each year on harm reduction activities, the which include working with festival and night club attendees.
The Pitch is produced by Untitled Group, Australia's largest independent music and events company, whose festival brands include Beyond The Valley, Sun Cycle NYD, Grapevine Gathering, Wildlands, Ability Fest and more.
Earlier, Untitled cleared the final day of the Pitch on Monday, March 11, as “extreme” heat swept the state. “Through consultation with the authorities,” read a statement issued by the organizers on Sunday afternoon, “we have been instructed to cancel the remainder of Pitch Music & Arts 2024 in light of an updated extreme fire risk warning issued this afternoon for tomorrow”.
The message continues, “we are consistently following the instructions of the relevant authorities throughout the process.”
Although guests were not in “immediate danger,” the statement continued, “everyone on site” was encouraged to “calmly gather” and move on.
The climate crisis is real, it's here, and it's ruined many festivals in this part of the world. According Green Music Australiathe music and environment lobby body in Australia, more than 45 music festivals in Australia have been partially or fully canceled due to weather effects since 2015. In addition, CEO Berish Bilander notes, other cultural events have reported increased insurance premiums due to weather conditions as a reason for cancellation.
Add Moomba festival to that list. organizers canceled Monday's parade due to dangerous conditions.
Following two back-to-back sold-out events in 2023 and 2022, Pitch, a celebration of music, arts and community, has brought back a voting system for 2024.
The event was scheduled for March 8-12 in Moiston, about 140 miles west of Melbourne, to coincide with Victoria's Labor weekend.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/touring/extreme-weather-suspected-drug-overdose-overshadow-australia-pitch-festival-1235629651/