The Falls Festival will take place at Mount Duneed Estate, around 15 minutes from Geelong, as the threat of further bushfires forced organisers to move the event from Lorne.

The annual four-day camping festival, which was first held in 1994, will begin on December 28.

Fire crews are battling a 2,200-hectare bushfire burning along the Great Ocean Road, and residents in Lorne were, at one point, urged to evacuate the town.

• Bushfire update: 116 homes destroyed

However the immediate threat has eased.

The festival site is in dense bushland about 15 minutes from the town centre.

“We have been working very hard over the past 24 hours to secure a new venue for the festival,” organisers said in a statement on their website.

“We’re pleased to announce that the show will go ahead nearby at Mount Duneed Estate.

“We’ve been working closely with the local emergency services, councils and CFA and unfortunately the Lorne farm is a potential high risk site for the 2015 event.”

More than 15,000 people are expected to bring in the new year at the event.

This year’s acts include international acts Bloc Party, Foals, the Wombats and local favourites Courtney Barnett and Birds of Tokyo.

Simultaneous events are also held at Marion Bay in Tasmania and Byron Bay in New South Wales.