Festival ‘jumpers’ warned
THOUSANDS have pledged to jump the fence at this weekend’s Splendour in the Grass festival after being left unable to get a ticket.
Thirty-five thousand tickets sold out in less than 25 minutes for the three-day event at North Byron Parklands, sparking a social media page encouraging people to sneak in.
The Facebook page, ‘Jumping Splendour 2k18’, has more than 3800 attending and 11,500 interested.
In previous years, people have attempted to replicate festival wristbands or bought used wristbands, but the public push for a mass fence jump has not been seen before.
The Facebook callout is urging for a large number of people to jump the fence together, after dark, making it hard for security and police to catch them all.
Splendour in the Grass organisers posted to the Facebook page yesterday, warning fence jumpers would be caught and fined on the spot.
“We have been monitoring and are aware of all groups planning to enter Splendour without a valid ticket,” the post read.
“Every system and access point you think you have mastered, we know about.
“Anyone trespassing on the Splendour or neighbouring properties without an event ticket will receive an on-thespot fine and be removed from the festival. If you are under 18, the police will call your parents.”
Organisers repeatedly declined to talk to the Bulletin when contacted yesterday.
NSW Detective Inspector Brendon Cullen said he was aware of the Facebook page.
“Anyone who jumps has a risk of prosecution while doing it. They will be fined and removed,” he said.
“Any under age person committing a crime, we always call their parents … It’s part of how we deal with juveniles – we get their parents involved.
“It is an issue we deal with every year and there is plenty of security in place to combat these plans and others.”
Splendour starts today and finishes on Sunday.
Heavy police presence, with sniffer dogs, is expected throughout the three days.