This weekend’s Pitch Music and Arts Festival saw thousands of festival goers sent home due to extreme heat, as well as the death of an attendee due to a suspected drug overdose.

The festival was cancelled on Sunday after the Country Fire Authority (CFA) issued an extreme weather warning and total fire ban.

“The CFA recommends that the safest option for those who are already on-site is to leave the site tonight or early in the morning,” Pitch Music and Arts announced on their social media.

The death of 23-year-old Anthony Maugeri was announced on the same day as the cancellation.

Maugeri became unresponsive at around 1am Sunday morning and died later that day at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne.

Ambulance Australia said five festival goers including Maugeri were taken to hospital that day due to alleged substance abuse.

The organisers of the festival said they were “deeply saddened” to hear of Maugeri’s passing.

“Our thoughts are with the family, friends and anyone in our wider community affected by this,” Pitch said on its Instagram.

The Pitch organisers are facing backlash over the timing of the cancellation and the confusion around whether the event was going to take place when it became known that there were going to be extreme temperatures in Victorias south-west this weekend.