Sydney concertgoers are sweating through a brutally hot day, with temperatures in the 40s, hoping for relief from a cool change sweeping up the east coast.
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At least 100,000 people are descending on the entertainment precinct at Homebush where the mercury climbed to 42C on Saturday afternoon.
US rockers Foo Fighters will play to a huge crowd at Accor Stadium while rapper 50 Cent is also expected to get thousands of people jumping at his second Sydney show at Qudos Bank Arena, despite the stifling heat.
Thousands more are attending the hard techno dance music festival Epik at the Sydney Showgrounds.
With an earlier start, the dance music fans could miss out on the cool change but Foo Fighters and 50 Cent fans could be in luck.
The Bureau of Meteorology expected relief to reach the Sydney coast between 6pm and 8pm.
Videos posted to social media show organisers outlining access to cooling stations at the Epik event site, with cool water misting fans and numerous water stations for patrons.
NSW Health has issued a fact sheet urging concertgoers to try to avoid the sun and take a break from dancing if they feel unwell.
It advised fans to take advantage of cool-down stations and warned that the effects of drugs and alcohol were often worsened by extreme heat.
"If you're dancing outdoors and or taking MDMA it can be very easy to overheat as the drug interrupts your body's cooling down mechanism, meaning your body will create more heat than it can get rid of," the warning read.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said the government had been working with the organisers of the events in Western Sydney and was happy with preparations.
"We've worked with organisers to make sure that there is free water available and plenty of water available to those attending those music festivals," he said.
Frontier Touring said extra staff had been hired to help assist with first aid stations set up around the stadium for the Foo Fighters concert.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the cool change brought relief to South Australia and Victoria overnight, dropping maximum temperatures to the high teens.
The southerly buster is expected to drop temperatures in Sydney by up to 10C, with the bureau also issuing a warning for damaging winds.
Australian Associated Press
