Photo courtesy Sydney Morning Herald

Only weeks after drug overdoses led to tragedy and the cancellation of Electric Zoo festivities in New York, Sydney's Defqon.1 hardcore dance festival ended similarly.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, a 23-year-old man died from cardiac arrest over the weekend and 20 other festivalgoers overdosed on drugs and were subsequently hospitalized. (An autopsy report will be released at a later time.)

‘‘Punters [those who gamble or bet against the odds] who intend to bring a few pills with them in case they feel like taking them across the course of the day are now forced to down everything at once in order to avoid possible arrest," an artist manager told the Herald. ‘‘This is costing young people’s lives.’’

In response to the reported 84 arrests, attendee Adam Watson, 22, said that the festival "gets worse and worse every year ... It doesn’t surprise me at all. People were out of control in there."

Over Labor Day weekend this month, the third day of New York's Electric Zoo Festival was scrapped following two drug-related deaths and four critical hospitalizations due to overdose.

While drug use is not limited to "EDM" events, this latest fatality in Australia will likely renew concern within the dance festival community.

At press time, organizers of the festival, which drew more than 18,000 attendees, had not commented.