A Day On The Green’s Rutherglen leg called off due to bushfires

The Cold Chisel-headlining concert A Day On The Green has been forced to cancel its Rutherglen leg due to extreme weather.

Bushfires in the local vicinity have resulted in air quality dubbed by EPA Victoria as “hazardous”, so organisers have made the tough decision to cancel the gig.

Chisel was due to play the gig alongside Birds Of Tokyo and Magic Dirt at All Sants Estate in Rutherglen today (Tuesday, January 7).

In a statement, promoter Roundhouse Entertainment revealed the decision came after looking ahead to the Bureau of Meteorology which has forecast wind conditions to get worse today, and the safety of patrons, artists and staff were the key concern.

“We are extremely disappointed to cancel today’s event at All Saints Estate but the unsafe conditions give us no other option,” said Roundhouse Entertainment’s Michael Newton.

“Our first priority is the safety of patrons, staff and artists and with air quality on the site and in surrounding areas now at a hazardous level, we have no other option but to cancel today’s show.

All ticket holders will receive a full refund by Ticketmaster, and Roundhouse has said all refunds will be processed within 7 days.

“We have been on-site for the past week preparing for the show, and sadly we have seen the air quality deteriorate to a level where we have been advised that it would not be safe to proceed. We are also concerned about traffic, given the fires in the area.

“This is a really unfortunate situation. We do not cancel shows lightly, and we are devastated that we have had to cancel what would have been our first show for 2020.”

The remaining shows in the Yarra Valley and Geelong are set to go ahead as scheduled.

A Day On The Green is the third festival to have to cancel due to bushfires this summer after NSW’s Lost Paradise and Victoria’s Falls Festival.