Animals Dancing's inaugural Bears Gone Bush festival cancelled

Melbourne crew Animals Dancing have been forced to cancel their inaugural camping festival Bears Gone Bush less than two months out.

"Extreme opposition from an unprecedented number of local residents has halted the expansion of the site this year," they posted on Facebook.

This is despite the site, about an hour north of Melbourne, being a licensed event venue used three times annually for music festivals for the past eight-plus years, they wrote.

"We had absolutely no reason to doubt the feasibility of our site until an 11th hour petition was launched late last week.

"After lengthy mediation and talks between ourselves, the site owners and those voicing concerns, an amicable resolution was still not able to be reached."

Because of the tight timeframe, they were unable to secure another suitable site, so the festival has become 'Bears Gone Bush Week' with several parties at different clubs across the September 28 AFL Grand Final weekend in Melbourne.

Announced artists including Pender Street Steppers, Interstellar Funk, Powder, Alienata and Tornado Wallace will play the new set of nights.

For more information, read the full post here.

Scott Carbines is Mixmag's Australian Digital Content Editor, follow him on Twitter