Victorians are sweltering through a rare three-day March heatwave, with temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s forecast until a cool change on Tuesday.
A total fire ban is in place for Saturday for the Wimmera, South West, North Central, Central districts — including Melbourne and Geelong — and West and South Gippsland districts.
Weather bureau senior meteorologist Sarah Scully said many Victorians would be in for an uncomfortable night's sleep tonight, with temperatures expected to be near 30 degrees around midnight.
"The hot weather is expected to continue Sunday [and] Monday for that whole long weekend, before a cooler change will push up on the early hours of Tuesday morning," she said.
"That will bring relief to southern parts of Victoria, however it's expected to remain hot across northern parts."
Ms Scully said having three consecutive days above 38 degrees during March was "unusual but not unprecedented" for Victoria.
"There's been three other occasions in the last hundred years during March where this has occurred," she said.
She advised people to limit the amount of time they were exposed to the heat and to stay hydrated and check in on vulnerable family members.
Cancellations and disruptions amid bushfire risk
The extreme heat is disrupting major events across the state.
On Saturday afternoon, the City of Melbourne announced the annual Moomba Parade scheduled for Monday had been cancelled.
It said the parade through the CBD, which was set to mark its 70th year, would not go ahead "to ensure the health and safety of performers, spectators, workers and volunteers".
In the state's west, the organisers of a music festival have delayed today's start due to the heat and dangerous fire conditions affecting large parts of the state.
The Country Fire Authority had urged music fans at the Pitch Festival in bushland outside Moyston, west of Ballarat, to leave the site because of an extreme fire danger and intense heat.
Organisers of the Pitch Music and Arts festival earlier posted an alert on their website, urging ticket holders who had yet to arrive to delay their travel until further notice due to the conditions.
"The CFA recommends that the safest option for those who are already on site is to leave the site," organisers advised.
"We are diligently following the guidance of relevant authorities to prioritise the safety of our community and have a full team of emergency services including medical, police and on site fire response who are on call throughout the event."
Free shuttle buses were being offered to anyone who wanted to leave because of the conditions but did not have their own transport.
Lucy Callaghan and Emily Rush were waiting to board a bus from Ararat to the festival.
They said the messaging about whether it was safe to attend and whether a refund would be offered to those who stayed away was confusing.
"We have absolutely no idea if we're allowed to go," Ms Callaghan said.
"Don't come or come — the middle ground is really, really confusing. That's what's making everyone stressed."
Ms Rush said she was feeling very anxious about whether it was safe.
"It's also very irresponsible to leave this decision in the hands of people who want to go and want to party. What do you think they're going to do?"
The pair said they had spent $550 each on their tickets as well as transportation and food, and had been looking forward to the weekend for months.
"That's a lot of money for a university student," Ms Callaghan said.
A parent of two adult children attending the festival, John, said he was concerned about the safety of those at the festival if a bushfire broke out.
"Are they going to be able to get out in time?" he said.
"The CFA have been really clear, they say don't come.
"I think it's only fair to the kids who have bought tickets that they get the right refund and if the event needs to be called off then it should be called off and if the authorities are the people who need to do that then please step up and do the right thing."
The Pitch festival is just one of several musical events in the west this week.
Golden Plains organisers said the event was still going ahead at Meredith, near Geelong but said they were meeting regularly to monitor the situation.
"We work with a dedicated team from local and statewide police, fire, ambulance, as well as the Golden Plains Shire, and independent risk and safety professionals to continually strengthen our safety plan," a spokesperson said.
"Every critical safety decision, including our fire prevention and response plan, is made collaboratively with this team, who are very supportive of Golden Plains."
Another long weekend festival, Esoteric, was being held at Donald, north-west of Bendigo.
Victorians urged to be aware of fire danger and heat risk
The State Control Centre's Luke Hegarty said the extreme heat and fire danger was posing a challenge for authorities.
"We've got so many people moving around this weekend that makes it both a challenge in terms of making sure the community knows what their fire danger rating is for the areas they're going to, whether there's a total fire ban … but also the heat health risk as well," Mr Hegarty said.
He said Pitch festival organisers had been asked to enact their emergency management plan and it was up to them to cancel the event, not authorities.
But he urged all travellers moving around the state this weekend to do their research and stay up to date with any warnings that may be issued.
"The important thing is that people make a clear decision about what they're going to do and communicate that to family and friends," he said.
"If they feel that they aren't comfortable travelling any further then it's ok to make that decision and turn back for home. The best thing is for people to come home safely."
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2024-03-09 00:53:29Z
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