‘Your worst night out … but it never ends’: how the Pitch music festival descended into chaos and confusion

‘I woke up every morning and felt like death’: Tallulah Chellew, a peer-based harm reduction worker, who worked in customer care at the Pitch music festival. Photograph: Ellen Smith/The Guardian

Attendees at Pitch festival were “dropping like flies” from severe heatstroke and drug use, and may have been put at risk by widespread disorganisation, workers at the festival have alleged.

The festival in Moyston, near Ararat in western Victoria, was due to run from Friday 8 March to the following Tuesday but was cancelled on the Sunday. Organisers were criticised for not calling it off earlier, despite the sweltering conditions and warnings from the Country Fire Authority (CFA) late on Friday night that it was safest for people to leave.