Falls festival organisers accept blame for crowd crush

Organisers of Victoria's popular Falls Festival have admitted their conduct was at fault for a crush that injured more than 70 people in December 2016.

The organisers of Victoria's popular Falls Festival have admitted their actions were to blame for a crowd crush that injured more than 70 people two years ago.

Ash Sounds, which runs the Lorne-based festival each summer, is facing a class action for damages over the December 2016 incident, when a stampede of people tried to leave the Grand Theatre between acts.

The action is being led by Michela Burke, who claims she suffered nerve damage and loss of sensation in her left arm as well as sleeplessness and damage to her property, as a result of the crush.
falls festival
Michela nursing her paralysed arm after the stampede. Source: Supplied
Among the failings, Ms Burke's lawyers have argued festival organisers scheduled events so large, numbers of people would be moving quickly between venues and failed to accommodate that movement.

In a formal defence, Ash Sounds admits Ms Burke suffered injury, loss and damage because of its conduct, but has not made any admissions as to the extent of those.

The court is yet to rule on what, if any, damages will be paid to those injured.



Share
1 min read

Published



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world