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Fresh Island Festival evacuates audience due to adjacent forest fire
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 16 July 2019
Fresh Island Festival, the annual hip hop centric event that takes place in Croatia, was called off mid-show last night after a massive fire broke out in a forest that surrounds the beach where the festival is staged. Fresh Island happens in various venues around Zrće beach on the Croatian island of Pag.
A statement on the event’s Facebook page last night read: “Due to the fire behind the far side of Zrće, we have paused tonight’s performance under instruction from the police and fire service as a safety precaution. Security have escorted fans to the beach and parking behind Noa Club and will direct people to shuttle buses leaving from the top of Noa Club parking near the main road to take people to Novalja town”.
Subsequent statements on Fresh Island’s social media kept those festival-goers still on site up-to-date on various delays that were occurring with the evacuation as a result of safety concerns about key exit routes. As of first thing this morning, the latest word was that busses taking people away from the beach were running again.
Many festival-goers posted footage of the blaze behind the beach, both before and once the evacuation was underway.
Among the acts who were due to play as the festival was called off last night were Tyga and Not3s. The festival was also due to continue today and tomorrow, with Tim Westwood, Stefflon Don and Tory Lanez all on the bill.
