A LAKE Macquarie couple spent almost 12 hours caught in a Splendour In The Grass traffic snarl on Thursday night after heavy rainfall sent the Byron Bay music festival into chaos.
Kilaben Bay's Joey van Lier and his girlfriend Angelica Lilly finally reached a drenched makeshift camping ground at 3.30am on Friday after initially arriving near the North Byron Parklands site at 4pm on Thursday.
Thousands of festival-goers were caught up in the madness after torrential rain fell in the Northern Rivers region, inundating Splendour's festival site.
Reports are emerging that the first day of the three-day festival will be cancelled due to the atrocious conditions.
It was announced on Friday morning that all incoming campers would be redirected to Byron Events Farm, 14 kilometres south of Splendour In The Grass.
"There was a lot of confusion," van Lier said. "A lot of people were getting out of their cars and just walking. Girls trying to find toilets. People trying to find food.
"People were just giving up and trying to sleep in their cars.
"There was no word from the festival. They weren't posting much and not talking about what would happen and what people should do."
Van Lier ended up camping in the one-day ticket-holder car park and the site was flooded. The rain and wind has been relentless since.
"I saw a gazebo this morning do a flip through the air and land on the windscreen of one of those Jucy rental cars and cracked the window," he said. "It's chaos."
Despite the conditions, van Lier said he was making the most of the circumstances and was looking forward to watching headline acts Gorillaz, The Strokes and Tyler, The Creator.
"It sounds cheesy, but the moods are high, all things considered," he said. "People are definitely trying to make the most of it."
There have been calls on Friday to cancel the entire three-day festival due to the weather conditions and lack of staff, but van Lier said organisers were working hard to provide toilets and showers to the makeshift camp ground.
"The festival, we shouldn't throw it under the bus," he said. "It's unprecedented conditions. They're really working hard to keep it going and keep everyone fed and make sure they're OK."
