Splendour in the Grass organisers are "reasonably confident" the music festival will resume on Saturday after their northern NSW parkland venue was flooded, washing out the first day.
Organisers had today pledged the "show will go on" despite a chaotic start to the festival, with camping grounds flooded and patrons left to sleep in their cars.
Performances on the main stages have been cancelled for Friday "in the interest of patron safety and in consultation with all relevant emergency services," an event statement said.
Organisers said they decided to "err on the side of caution" as a "significant weather event" sitting off the coast could bring more rain if it moves inland today.
"Please be assured that our event team is working very hard to provide the best experience possible under the current circumstances."
The festival's "destination stages" will remain open and refunds would be processed for patrons, the statement said.
Festival co-founder Jessica Ducrou said she hoped the festival would resume on Saturday.
"Two days is better than zero. Thankfully the weather seems to be passing through pretty quickly," she said.
"We’re reasonably confident we'll be fine to operate tomorrow."
Ms Ducrou said organisers were expecting clear weather for the entire period, but that changed on Monday.
"We’ve had heavier weather expected over the last few days," she said.
People arriving for the four-day festival yesterday faced 12-hour queues to enter the site as rain lashed the North Byron Parklands, with some forced to sleep in their cars.
Wild weather has soaked the area, leaving parts of the campgrounds "unusable".
The organisers have said campers arriving today will be redirected to another site as staff work to safely admit ticket holders.
"Due to ongoing weather conditions we can no longer accept any campers or vehicles including day parking at North Byron Parklands," organisers wrote on social media.
Ms Ducrou blamed the conditions for causing long queues to enter camping grounds and expected today would be "pretty challenging" for staff and patrons.
She said event spaces had held up well and staff were working round the clock to have the festival run as smoothly and safely as possible.
"The show will go on, we've just had a little bit of a bumpy start to it," Ms Ducrou said.
"We're all working as hard as we can to make sure that we can deliver the show in a way that people expect us to."
Frustrated ticket holders have taken to social media to air their grievances.
"Been in a car queue for 8.5 (hours), still potentially three hours from getting in the camp ground," Harry Nicol posted to his Twitter after midnight.
Alex Gubbings told ABC News it took him about 12 hours to enter the Splendour grounds.
"I'd say we got in line around 4-4.30pm and we just got in at 4am," Mr Gubbings said.
"It was not moving, that's for sure. I thought I wasn't going to get in."
Mr Gubbings said he was considering turning around at midnight and getting a hotel instead.
"But my friends didn't let me … we managed to just stick it out," he said.
He said he only heard from staff and security in the last hour.
"The traffic started moving pretty freely after someone we met started directing traffic," Mr Gubbings said.
It is the first time since 2019 that Splendour, Australia's biggest music festival, has been held, having been postponed for two years due to the pandemic.
Many people have held their tickets since 2020, with this year's bill including famed local and international acts such as Gorillaz and The Strokes.
A three-day ticket costs for $415.91, meanwhile a single day ticket costs more than $200.
To camp, it costs an extra $100 on top of this.
The festival has a history of taking place during rainy weather, as it is staged in the heart of the Australian winter.
ABC News journalist Tobias Loftus, who is at the festival, said the conditions this morning were miserable.
"It's just so wet here, and there's mud everywhere," Mr Loftus said.
"I'm so thankful I brought my gumboots. I've seen so many people around the place that don't have gumboots on. Hopefully they can find some inside once the main festival gates open.
"It's not Splendour in the Grass this year, it's Splendour in the Mud."
Festival punter Rhiannon Dunk said she would remember her first Splendour in the Grass for some time.
"It started off fun, you know, a nice sort of road trip," she said.
"Then it was just a case of straight-up traffic. We actually left the first time because we got bored.
"For the second time we were stuck on the highway in a queue for like eight hours."
She said she was not letting the mud get her down.
"It's all part of the experience," she said.
"I haven't lost my gumboots yet so we're going well."
