“MUM I have taken some very bad acid and everything is very odd here.”
These were some of the last words that 34-year-old Daniel Buccianti spoke to his mother, Adriana, from the Rainbow Serpent Festival in Beaufort.
A few hours later, in the early hours of Sunday morning, the Epping man was dead.
The four-day international music festival, which concluded yesterday, is synonymous in some circles for its rampant drug scene.
On Saturday night, a 25-year-old was also taken to Ballarat Health Services Base Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
However, Victoria police yesterday told The Courier no drugs were found at the festival.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said Mr Buccianti’s death was not believed to be suspicious.
“Drugs took my son,” Ms Buccianti said. “He rang here that Saturday night at 6.15pm ... and said Mum I have taken some very bad acid.
“I said Daniel don’t worry, you need to get yourself to St John Hospital really quickly.”
Mr Buccianti asked his mother to come and pick him up but 40-minutes later he called again to say he was fine.
The next thing Ms Buccianti heard was a knock on the door on Sunday morning from the police informing her about her son’s death.
Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullen said the man was already dead when emergency crew arrived at the scene.
Ms Buccianti said she held the festival organisers responsible for her son’s death.
“They should be shut down,” she said.
“If the police didn’t find any drugs at the festival then they were not looking hard enough.”
Victoria Police Acting Senior Sergeant Jo Stafford said the festival was a privately run event and organisers were responsible for providing their own security.
“Victoria Police ensures there is a police presence at the festival to respond in the event that an incident occurs,” she said.
“This includes active patrols within the festival grounds and breath testing and traffic enforcement outside the event.”
Three people, he said, were ejected from the event due to behavioural-related incidents.
Acting Senior Sergeant Stafford said as the matter was now before the Coroner, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.
Meanwhile, members of the small but tight-knit Buccianti family gathered at an Epping residence yesterday.
Candles burnt in front of Mr Buccianti’s photo at a makeshift alter in the kitchen.
Just 10-days ago, the family was celebrating his birthday.
Ms Buccianti said her son was hard-working, likeable but sometimes cheeky. A single mother, Daniel, she said had been her strength.
“My life has changed forever,” Ms Buccianti said.
“There’s never going to be another birthday, or Christmas, or wedding or grandchildren.”
Mr Buccianti will be buried in the family plot at the Carlton cemetery where his great-grandmother, grandmother and niece also rest.
Rainbow Serpent Festival organisers were not able to be contacted for comment yesterday.
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