Wind and Fire at BenicГ ssim Festival

The Kings of Leon had to cancel their performance as strong winds hit the site

The 1,500 people who had to be evacuated from the FIB campsite at the BenicГ ssim music festival because of gale force winds in the early hours of Saturday returned to the site in the evening.

The campers were given access to a local sports centre as many saw their tents blow away in the Vendaval winds which reached 75 kilometres per hour at times. 24 people needed treatment from the Red Cross but were not seriously hurt. A fire close to the festival site also blew smoke over the performance of Tom Tom Club, and the fire service had to be called.

The wind had earlier forced the interruption of the performance of Paul Weller, who had not choice but to end his set ten minutes early, and it led to the cancellation of the performance by Kings of Leon.

Meanwhile Lilly Allen has also dropped out of the festival because of illness.