Summernats 35 was one for the history books. For the first time ever, car entrant numbers were capped and Saturday and Sunday spectator tickets sold out. Co-owner Andy Lopez says over the weekend (6-8 January), 125,000 people made their way through the gates.
“The crowd was great, we had people everywhere having a good time. Thousands of people at the burnouts, beautiful cars with people enjoying them,” Mr Lopez said.
He said many people came with their families and there seemed to be a lot more women than in previous years. A highlight for him was when the US Ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy made an appearance on Saturday, walking through through the Elite Pavilion, Skid Row, and catching some of the burnout show while stopping to talk to the car owners and hear their stories.
“Myself and one of my event managers were like ‘this is amazing, there is a Kennedy at Summernats’,” Mr Lopez enthused.
However, it wasn’t all fun and games. On Saturday night, organisers closed the Cruise Circuit at EPIC in an attempt to get unruly behaviour under control. In two separate areas, audience members wanted to get closer to the action and the organisers had to request the presence of ACT Policing.
“A small section of the crowd decided they didn’t want to stay off the road. We had just under 50,000 people through the gate and a small minority of people are just selfish and decided they wouldn’t follow reasonable instructions of security and police,” Mr Lopez said.
A spokesperson from ACT Policing said the closure of the circuit resulted in a significant increase in poor behaviour within the venue, with both spectators and drivers refusing to comply with security officers’ directions. After police assisted in dispersing crowds at EPIC, a number of the privately contracted security guards left the venue, resulting in an understrength security presence.
“Events of this nature require an appropriate security response and ACT Policing is disappointed that organisers were not able to maintain good order inside EPIC. The decision to cease cruising inside the venue resulted in patrons and vehicles dispersing across the ACT in numbers that were difficult to manage,” the spokesperson said.
ACT Policing said that some attendees moved from EPIC to Braddon where police engaged with drivers seeking to breach closed roads and block residential access to the area. They say a significant number of offices were called to the location to manage the crowd, while others were sent to manage vehicles and people gathered in Fyshwick, Majura and Hume.
Over the weekend, ACT Policing issued 18 traffic infringement notices and two cautions, and seized seven vehicles for driving offences. Both ACT Policing and Mr Lopez said they will work together to debrief on the situation and on plans for future Summernats events.
“These few people don’t represent Summernats and the people of Street Machine. There are plenty of safe places when you come here, you don’t have to get on the road and act like an idiot,” Mr Lopez said.
Event organisers plan to ban the people who were involved in the unwanted behaviour. Mr Lopez said they already put this into action when some of them were asked to leave on the night.
Police confirm there was a rise in e-scooter misbehaviour over the weekend, however, their focus was on the vehicles and people crowding. Mr Lopez said they worked with e-scooter companies to geo-block the Braddon area and ensure the scooters could make their way back to EPIC, where there was a designated parking station.
Mr Lopez said the Summernats team are grateful and thanked the ACT Government, ACT Policing, Access Canberra, Venues ACT and all other organisations involved for their continued support of the festival.
“We are aware of our footprint, we are continuing to work to improve to minimise the impact on the residents of Canberra and be a positive benefit to the region. We want to bring benefits to the region not just economically but culturally as well,” he said.
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