A part of Australia's biggest horsepower festival had to be shut down on Saturday because people crowded onto the roadway and refused to get off, leading to attendees being dispersed across Canberra and police resources being stretched.
An ACT Policing spokesperson said about 6pm on Saturday, organisers closed the internal cruise circuit within EPIC, triggering "a significant increase in poor behaviour within the venue" with spectators and drivers refusing to comply with security officers' directions.
At the request of Summernats management, police officers helped disperse crowds and vehicles, which moved to various locations across the ACT, including Braddon.
"Soon after, a number of privately contracted security guards left the venue, resulting in an understrength security presence inside EPIC last night," the police spokesperson said.
"Police engaged with drivers seeking to breach closed roads and block residential access in the area.
"A significant number of police resources were diverted from all areas to Braddon to manage the attending crowd, as well as respond to vehicles and people gathered in Fyshwick, Majura Park, and Hume."
Police said they were disappointed organisers were not able to maintain good order inside EPIC as "events of this nature require an appropriate security response".
"The decision to cease cruising inside the venue resulted in patrons and vehicles dispersing across the ACT in numbers that were difficult to manage with existing police resources," police said.
However, it said it would continue to work with Summernats organisers and the ACT government "to ensure the safety and security of everyone".
Summernats co-owner Andy Lopez said the majority of attendees were well behaved.
"For all the thousands of people here who are enjoying themselves with all the activities, there are a few who just don't get it. They just don't listen," Mr Lopez said.
"Late on Saturday afternoon we had people crowding onto the roadway and refusing to get off and that's a risk we can't have, so the decision was made to de-escalate the situation completely and just shut it down."
He said he was "deeply disappointed that it happened and that a small number of spectators and drivers effectively just ruined it for everyone else".
"We increased our security every day as the numbers ramped up," Mr Lopez said.
"In the debrief at the end of this event, we will be sitting down with all the key stakeholders, including the police, to work through strategies where we can prevent this happening again."
In another incident on Saturday, just before 10pm, about 100 cars gathered at the intersection of Hadlow Drive and Shingle Hill Way in Bywong where drivers performed illegal burnouts and set off fireworks on the roadway.
NSW Police moved in about 10pm to disperse the crowd.
Police had also set up a high-profile mobile breath-testing station at Eaglehawk near the the NSW-ACT border.
It was a bid to deter gatherings as occurred during Summernats in 2021 when several hundred people crowded the intersection near the Liberty petrol station to watch illegal burnouts.
