THE Grass is Greener music festival may have found a permanent new home with organisers heaping praise on the Cairns Showgrounds site.

The event was controversially shifted from its former site at Fogarty Park in the Cairns CBD this year after a dispute over safety requirements.

Festival co-founder Oli Frost said they were initially "a bit scared" over the venue change to the Parramatta Park site but were overwhelmed by Saturday's success. An estimated record 8000 people packed in to enjoy various acts including headliners Peking Duk and British India.

"We're keen to leave it on the calendar and we'll probably keep it at the same place," Mr Frost said.

"It was just a blank canvas so we built the venue to how we liked it.

"We lost a bit of the natural beauty (which we had) at Fogarty Park), but we rebuilt the site to what a festival should look like from down south."

Mr Frost said Canberra act Peking Duk was the biggest hit, although the atmosphere throughout the day was good.

Cairns police Acting Senior Sergeant Michael McGarry praised the overall behaviour of the crowd and said, while there were a small number of arrests, there were no significant incidents.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman said about 15 people were treated for substance abuse, with several of those taken to Cairns Hospital.