Electric Picnic


Electric Picnic is an annual arts-and-music festival which has been staged since 2004 at Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland.

Overview

It is organised by Pod Concerts and Festival Republic, who purchased the majority shareholding in 2009. It was voted Best Medium-Sized European Festival at the 2010 European Festival Awards, and has been voted Best Big Festival at each of the last four Irish Festival Awards since they began in 2007. The Electric Picnic won eight awards in Hot Press's 2011 Festival Awards, including 'Best Large Festival'. In 2023, it was awarded 'Festival of the Year' in the Ticketmaster Awards.
The Picnic has been described as "Ireland's version of Glastonbury" and "a great inspiration to Latitude" by one of its business partners, Laois. In 2006 US magazine Billboard called it "a magnificent rock n roll circus, a textbook example of everything a festival should be" and Rolling Stone described it as "one of the best festivals we've ever been to". The 2008 event was described by The Irish Times as "the best Electric Picnic yet".
There is also an emphasis on eco-friendly initiatives.

History

Electric Picnic began as a one-day event in 2004, before growing to a weekend-long festival within a year. The festival incorporates attractions such as the 24-hour cinema tent, the Body and Soul arena and the Comedy Tent and a silent disco. In 2008, Amnesty International attended the festival to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whilst renowned American Burning Man artist, David Best constructed a Temple of Truth on site. Electric Picnic has been described as an "enormously successful, award-winning, established brand" which "attempts to bring to life a microcosmic cultural experience where music is just the tip of the iceberg".

Festival summary by year

2004 festival

The 2004 festival was a one-day event, which was headlined by 2 Many DJs. Other acts included Groove Armada, Arrested Development, Jurassic5, Grand Master Flash, Super Furry Animals, Plump DJ's, David Kitt, Soulwax and Mylo. Despite the fact that there was no organised camping, a number of groups camped in the field designated as the car park overnight and stayed up talking and exploring the woods. Thus, the relaxed and friendly vibe of the earlier Electric Picnic festivals was established.

2005 festival

The 2005 festival took place on Saturday 3 September and Sunday 4 September. It is best remembered for Arcade Fire's performance which came before their subsequent mainstream success. Headlining acts included Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Kraftwerk, The Flaming Lips, Röyksopp, Mercury Rev and The Human League.
The premiere of "Electric Picnic: The Documentary" took place at the Irish Film Institute on Tuesday 4 July 2006 at 19:00. The critically acclaimed documentary directed by Nick Ryan, was filmed by a small camera crew who recorded the events of Electric Picnic 2005. Narrated by musician Nick Seymour and economist David McWilliams, the documentary includes footage from Kraftwerk's first recorded live performance in twelve years plus interviews with the performing bands and comedians, with a few festival-goers and with the locals of Stradbally Village, who claimed: "We get more trouble at the Vintage Steam Rally".
In 2006 the festival gained momentum, with all 30,000 tickets selling out more than seven weeks in advance. Presale tickets went on sale on Monday 28 November 2005. The event took place on the weekend of 1–3 September 2006, with the line-up being revealed on Friday 24 March. Artists who performed across the seven stages included Sparks, New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Basement Jaxx, Rufus Wainwright, Bloc Party, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Gary Numan, François Kevorkian, Groove Armada, Damien Rice and The Frames. The Blue Nile's appearance was their only live performance of the year. The festival's biggest casualty was Gnarls Barkley who had to cancel their appearance after rapper/singer Cee-Lo strained his vocal cords. David McWilliams made an appearance as a celebrity. RTÉ Two televised the festival, with a special RTÉ Two Green Room being set up at Stradbally Hall Estate for presenters Tom Dunne and Jenny Huston.
Journalist and television presenter Joe O'Shea was arrested for driving in an intoxicated state on his way home from the event.
The Comedy Tent in 2006 featured PJ Gallagher, Des Bishop, Neil Delamere, and Eric Lalor.

2007 festival

Electric Picnic 2007 was once again a three-day event and ran from 31 August until 2 September. The festival maintained its current size of 32,500 festival goers and kept all the same elements plus some new additions. "Early-bird" tickets for the 2007 festival went on sale between Monday 11 December 2006, and Saturday 24 February 2007, costing €199, taking into account the VAT that must now be paid on all outdoor events. Full price tickets went on sale on Tuesday 3 April at a price of €220. The first acts were officially announced on Monday 2 April.
Besides the music other attractions included an inflatable church offering mock weddings, luxury tents, massage chambers, a fairground and silent disco. Acii Disco DJs began the festival on the Friday at 12 p.m. in the Bodytonic Tent. Amongst others to take to the stage on Friday were Björk, Hot Chip, Scott Matthews, Manic Street Preachers and Oppenheimer whilst the unnamed band responsible for The Good, the Bad & the Queen headlined the Electric Arena tent. The Sunday night was brought to a close by Primal Scream.
The festival was marred by the death of a 23-year-old fan. The incident occurred as The Chemical Brothers came to a climax at 2 a.m. early on the Sunday morning. Organiser John Reynolds extended his sympathies and said: "A young man took ill at the festival, was treated at the medical centre, removed to Portlaoise Hospital and was later pronounced dead." Gardaí said they were not treating the death as suspicious.
Electric Picnic 2008 took place at Stradbally from 29 to 31 August, attended by 35,000 people. Presale tickets went on sale on 9 November 2007 and full price tickets went on sale on Friday 28 March at 9 p.m., costing €240 including camping, with the various sites opening at 9 a.m. on Friday 29 August. Tickets had sold out by 17 June.
Sigur Rós, George Clinton and Sex Pistols headlined. Other musicians appearing included Franz Ferdinand, My Bloody Valentine, German rockers Faust, Tindersticks, The Breeders, Grinderman, Goldfrapp, Gossip, CSS, Duffy, Foals, Hadouken!, Wilco, The Roots, Turin Brakes, Carbon/Silicon, Conor Oberst and New Young Pony Club. Irish acts to appear included The Stunning, Sinéad O'Connor, Christy Moore, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Boss Volenti, The Waterboys, The Flaws, Ham Sandwich, Fred, Super Extra Bonus Party, Jape, Lisa Hannigan, Le Galaxie, Cathy Davey, Gemma Hayes and Mark Geary. Also attending were Amnesty International, which celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with a singalong of "Happy Birthday" on the Sunday night.