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Rainbow Serpent announces 2020 festival changes due to bushfire concerns

9 January 2020 | 12:43 pm | Emma Jones

The Australian Rainbow Serpent Festival announces changes to their punters about this year's festival due to bushfire concerns.

Australian festival Rainbow Serpent has taken to social media to announce to their punters that this year's festival is going to look a little differently.

Due to a risk of bushfires organisers are taking very seriously, those behind the event have announced the 2020 edition of the festival, originally to be held over the January long weekend in Lexton, will now be held across two dates. The first date will remain on the January long weekend, but is moving instead to the Melbourne CBD. The festival will then return to the Lexton site across the Easter long weekend, when bushfire risk has been majorly reduced.

"No one could have predicted the intensity of the fires we’ve witnessed around the country over the last two weeks and it’s been a sobering experience for us all," the festival wrote in a statement shared on Facebook.

Confirming that after a meeting held with the CFA, Victoria Police, Forest Fire Management Victoria and Pyrenees Council, the decision was made as all parties and stakeholders agreed it "simply isn’t the right thing to do" to proceed with the festival as originally planned. Fires have already breached Lexton, burning through 2000 hectares and damaging the festival grounds and some "permanent event infrastructure".

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"In chaos lies opportunity and we invite our extended Rainbow family to join us for two very special events we feel will honour the gravity of the fires, assist the local community and give us double the opportunity to celebrate the Rainbow Serpent spirit."

The January 26th date, being dubbed the "Rainbow Serpent Festival - Urban Edition" will feature "multiple stages hosting the majority of special guest performers from the original lineup." More details on this will be announced in the coming days. As for the Easter long weekend, organisers said punters can expect "a special multi-day event on site during the Easter long weekend, showcasing the best that Rainbow has to offer!"

Read the full statement below:

Words by Emma Jones

Image via Facebook