Organisers of the Summernats car festival in Canberra are required to cover the cost of cleaning up the streets after the event, which attracted an estimated 100,000 attendees this year. The clean-up operation at Exhibition Park is expected to take a full week, with staff working to restore the venue.
Co-owner Andy Lopez confirmed that planning for the milestone 30th Summernats has already begun. He described the 29th edition as an outstanding success, with no major incidents reported and crowd behaviour praised by both organisers and police.
ACT Policing conducted over 2,300 random breath tests and 100 random drug tests during the event, issuing 41 traffic infringement notices. Superintendent Ben Cartwright noted that only five people tested over the legal alcohol limit, and the majority of attendees followed the rules.
Mr Lopez dismissed reports linking Summernats to a boom in the local sex industry, stating that the event is purely automotive and that attendees' activities outside the venue are their own business. Earlier reports had indicated a spike in sales at sex shops and an influx of strippers during the festival.
