Falls Festival is well underway in Marion Bay as the Apple Isle crowd braved 34 degree heat on day two and gave thanks to the three musical acts fundraising more than $50,000 for Australia's firefighting services.
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Following the cancellation of the Lorne event on Sunday, due to the extreme forecast weather conditions, two international musical acts and an Australian duo stepped up only hours later.
Yungblud, Peking Duk and Halsey each performed in Melbourne on Sunday to fundraise for the Country Fire Authority and were praised on social media by punters, and during their Marion Bay sets for their generosity.
On Monday Tasmania's hot temperatures, strong gusty winds and low humidity pushed the fire danger to extreme in some areas with a severe rating at Marion Bay. A total fire ban was declared on site as punters breathed a sigh of relief the festival was not cancelled as conditions almost mirrored the same that resulted in Lorne's cancellation.
TFS chief officer Chris Arnol said they had ground crews pre-positioned at the Marion Bay festival site and the surrounding area had been subjected to bushfire reduction measures leading up to the festival.
"[We] are at the highest level of readiness to ensure there is a multi-agency response to any fires that do start," he said.
Fresh off playing two charity shows the night before, England's Yungblud delivered his mixture of punk and hip hop tunes in the late afternoon to a grateful and energetic crowd in the heat.
"It sucks man that Falls got cancelled ... but it's all safety man and we've got to be safe and happy but I am working on something so stay tuned," Yungblud said on Sunday.
Before two hours later he announced he was performing two shows at Collingwood's The Tote for $5 entry, with all ticket proceeds going to CFA.
Australian electronic duo Peking Duk also put on a charity show and raised $50,000 by donating all ticket sales to the cause and fundraising at the gig.
The duo put on a show at St Kilda's Espy Gershwin room for $60 a ticket to a sold out crowd of 550 people before continuing on to the other legs of Falls.
They announced the $50,000 fundraised figure at their Marion Bay set on Monday night.
On Sunday Halsey said she was disappointed the show was cancelled, but safety was paramount, hours later she announced she was playing a show for $30 a ticket. She performed at Melbourne's The Forum, which has a 2000 person capacity, with all proceeds going to CFA too.
Although her album Manic is due for release next month, she sadly did not give much away during her Falls set. A final fundraising figure from the three acts charity shows has not been released.
