Man dies at Sydney Olympic Park music festival in Sydney

A man in his 20s has died while attending the Knockout music festival at the Sydney Showground in Sydney Olympic Park while three other attendees have been hospitalised.

Paramedics were called to Knockout Outdoor 2024 festival, billed as Australia’s largest outdoor music event, just before midnight about 11.50pm yesterday.

NSW Police said the man was suffering a medical episode and first responders attempted to revive him.

The man could not be revived, with NSW Police establishing a crime scene and launching an investigation into the circumstances of his death.

Advising that his death is not being treated as suspicious, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb told a press conference that it was believed the man had "underlying health issues" and there is no suggestion of any drug taking.

She described the death at the festival, the first of the season, as an “unfortunate incident” at the festival, one of the first of the season.

However, Commissioner Webb noted that there had been multiple hospitalisations for separate incidents of drug use, stating “it’s always risky whenever you take illegal drugs, you never know where they’re made, you don’t know what’s in them, and you don’t know how your body’s going to react.

“So it comes with a great deal of risk. And I just want people to understand that.”

A NSW Health spokesman said three festival attendees had been taken to hospital via ambulance, with all three remaining in hospital in a stable condition.

The matter has been referred to the Coroner.

The death comes ahead of a long-awaited four-day NSW drug summit, with regional hearings to begin in October and two days of meetings in Sydney on 4th and 5th December.

The matter of pill testing is expected to feature the summit, with the NSW Government under increased pressure to implement a service during festivals, with the Victoria Government having committed to a trial over summer following the success of similar trials in ACT and Queensland.

Image: Knockout Outdoor at Sydney Olympic Park. Credit: Instagram.