Victorian heatwave sees Moomba Parade cancellation and festival disruptions

Heatwave conditions across southern Australia have seen the cancellation of the long-running Moomba Parade in Melbourne, which had been scheduled for Monday, while, facing fire warnings, festivalgoers in Regional Victoria have advised to leave.

With Victorians sweltering through a rare three-day March heatwave, with temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s forecast until a cool change on Tuesday, the City of Melbourne announced the annual Moomba Parade said the difficult decision was made “to ensure the health and safety” of performers, spectators, workers and volunteers. However, the wider festival will still go ahead, with some interruptions.

The Council said the parade through the CBD, which was set to mark its 70th year, would not go ahead "to ensure the health and safety of performers, spectators, workers and volunteers".

With the Bureau of Meteorology advising extreme heat will continue across four states for the entire long weekend, confusion surrounded the Pitch music and arts festival at Moyston west of Ballarat, with those on site advised to head home and those planning to attend urged to delay their arrival, with those already on site advised to head home.

In a social media post, Pitch organiser said the Country Fire Authority had advised the safest option for those already on site was to leave on Saturday morning due to the bushfire risk. Running from 8th to 12th March, temperatures at the festival site are forecast to reach 38C on today and 39C on Sunday.

The post read, “if you are arriving on Saturday we recommend delaying your arrival until further notice.”

In a statement, Pitch festival organisers said programming would commence at 6pm on Saturday and will continue as scheduled for the remainder of the event. Organisers said they are working “through the specifics” in relation to refunds, and ticket holders would “receive an update as more information becomes available”.

Organisers added “the CFA (Country Fire Authority) recommends that the safest option for those who are already on site is to leave the site.

"We are diligently following the guidance of relevant authorities to prioritise the safety of our community and have a full team of emergency services including medical, police and on site fire response who are on call throughout the event."

Free shuttle buses were being offered to anyone who wanted to leave because of the conditions but did not have their own transport.

Pitch’s Instagram post has more than 800 comments, with some questioning why the festival had not been cancelled.

Across Victoria, Melbourne is tipped to reach a top of 39C on today, while conditions are set to hit 41C at Warrnambool, Torquay and Avalon. Victoria’ central district is expected to reach 41C and 40C is forecast for popular holiday towns along the Murray River.

Meanwhile, temperatures are set to reach the low 40Cs in South Australia as severe heatwave conditions extend farther west of the Eyre Peninsula over the long weekend.

The State Control Centre's Luke Hegarty said the extreme heat and fire danger was posing a challenge for authorities.