Folk festival exodus ‘very organised’

Dunedin City Council contractors led a procession of more than 100 stranded folk festival attendees out of a flood-affected Whare Flat Folk Festival yesterday afternoon.

A flooded Silverstream ford closed access to the folk festival site on Saturday afternoon, and about 130 people were ‘‘flooded in’’ for the final night of the multi-day folk festival in North Taieri, festival organiser Kathryn Olcott said.

Ms Olcott said she was the last person out from the festival site yesterday about 5pm, but several cars and some effects remained behind.

Some festival-goers slept in bunks at the Waiora Scout Camp on Saturday night as the site became water-logged, she said.

Many festival-goers left the folk festival earlier on Saturday morning as heavy rain fell and Silverstream Valley Rd’s closure loomed.

The initial problem yesterday though was that organisers did not know if the road could be reopened for those who had remained for the final night of the festival, she said.

It turned out there was a two-hour window to get people out yesterday.

At lunch time those who remained at the site were told to be packed and ready to leave the site at short notice, Ms Olcott said.

Fulton Hogan and Southern Transport crews led or followed people over two flooded fords as they left the festival through an alternate route, she said.

‘‘Everything was always about making sure people were safe as they were leaving,’’ she said. ‘‘We had a very organised exodus.’’