Name: Electric Picnic Music and Arts Festival

Where: Stradbally Hall, County Laois, Ireland

When: 4th – 6th September 2015

Headliners: Florence And The Machine ▪ Underworld ▪ Manic Street Preachers ▪ Blur ▪ The Boomtown Rats ▪ Villagers

Also Featuring: The War On Drugs ▪ George Ezra ▪ Roísin Murphy ▪ Jon Hopkins ▪ Belle And Sebastian ▪ Tame Impala ▪ Hot Chip ▪ Future Islands ▪ Jurassic 5 ▪ Chvrches ▪ Ride ▪ Battles ▪ My Morning Jacket ▪ Jessie Ware ▪ Django Django ▪ Low ▪ Pond ▪ Sam Smith ▪ Grace Jones ▪ Interpol ▪ Fka Twigs ▪ Despacio ▪ Paul Kalkbrenner ▪ Gavin James ▪ The Riptide Movement ▪ Soak ▪ Le Galaxie ▪ The Staves ▪ Ms Mr ▪ Shamir ▪ Mano Le Tough ▪ Parquet Courts ▪ Son Lux ▪ Jape ▪ Girlpool ▪ Little Hours ▪ The Lost Brothers ▪ Here We Go Magic ▪ Thomston ▪ Declan Mckenna ▪ Tom Misch ▪ Bry ▪ Legend ▪ Yurodny ▪ Dublin Gospel Choir

A Brief History: The Electric Picnic is Ireland’s foremost boutique music and arts festival. The festival’s annual occurence dates back to 2004 and it is homed at the Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland. It is organised by Pod Concerts and Festival Republic, who purchased the majority shareholding in 2009. It was voted Best Large Festival at the 2014 Irish Festival Awards 2014 and the Best Medium-Sized European Festival at the 2010 European Festival Awards.

 

The Picnic has received extensive global acclaim, and has being branded as “The Glastonbury of Ireland” and commented on as “a great inspiration to Latitude”. US magazine Billboard described it as “a magnificent rock n roll circus, a textbook exgooample of everything a festival should be” and Rolling Stone describing 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”.

Besides music, the Picnic also boasts comedy, theatre, art, holistic healing, outdoor steam baths, a Ferris wheel, an eco village, a culinary area and an entirely self-contained alternative bohemian area the Body & Soul field. Hence with these, it indeed resembles a smaller version of Glastonbury, the mother of all festivals. The intellectual Mindfield, suited for those less interested in boozing, draws visitors seeking political, artistic and literary discussion. Most notable guest speakers in the past have been the likes of the Irish president (and poet) Michael D. Higgins and Bob Geldof, Roddy Doyle, John Banville and Jim Sheridan.

How To Get There: The easiest and fastest option of getting into Stradbally is via public transport (coaches and shuttle buses). More infor about public transport can be found here

Parking is free at the festival. Parking for weekend ticket holders is located in Red Car Parks A, B and C on the Abbeyleix Road.

Gigslutz Top Tip: Closer to the event, make sure to print the Electric Picnic 2015 Clashfinder and highlight the gigs you don’t want to miss. Bring a poncho and warm clothes, just in case it will rain.

Memorable Moments: Arcade Fire’s legendary tented gig at Electric Picnic in 2005 before they achieved mainstream success; Robert Smith’s impressive 39-song-long setlist in 2012; David Byrne’s mesmerising performance with St. Vincent in 2013

Did You Know? This year’s Electric Picnic festival is now sold out. The good news is that there’s another one next year. So get the Early Bird tickets that are almost half the price of the standard price! It takes only about 1 hour from London City Airport to Dublin, so you will get to Stradbally in less time than to Glastonbury.

Picture Credit: Jamie Tanner