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. 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 Picnic has received widespread international acclaim, being described as "Ireland's version of Glastonbury" and "a great inspiration to Latitude". US magazine Billboard calling it as "a magnificent rock n roll circus, a textbook example 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".

Electric Picnic differs from other festivals in Ireland in that the music choice is more eclectic than the other mainstream events (its history includes international acts such as Kraftwerk, Röyksopp, Nick Cave, Sonic Youth, New Order, Björk, Arcade Fire, Beastie Boys, The Stooges, The Chemical Brothers, Gary Numan, The Flaming Lips, Sigur Rós and Sex Pistols), and there is more emphasis on quality festival services (such as food and sleeping arrangements) and a generally more positive and relaxed atmosphere. There is also an emphasis on eco-friendly initiatives.

Electric Picnic 2009

Electric Picnic 2009 was the sixth edition of the Electric Picnic festival to take place. The three-day event took place on the weekend of Friday September 4, Saturday September 5 and Sunday September 6 at Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland. The festival was launched on 15 April 2009 and featured performances from artists such as Orbital, The Flaming Lips, Brian Wilson, Basement Jaxx, Madness, Klaxons, Bell X1, Fleet Foxes and MGMT.

Orbital and The Flaming Lips released albums prior to their appearances.Dan Deacon was replaced in the line-up by The Jimmy Cake the week before.

Build-up

Takeover

Prior to 2009, the festival was jointly organised between Pod Concerts and Aiken Promotions. The British promoter Festival Republic bought out the share of Aiken Promotions in Electric Picnic in March 2009, joining in a partnership with Pod Concerts to organise the 2009 event. Festival Republic is itself 50.1% owned by Live Nation who are the biggest concert and festival promoter in the world so this move is now seen by many as a positive move for the festival.

Electric Picnic 2008

Electric Picnic 2008 was the fifth Electric Picnic festival to take place. The three-day event took place on the weekend of Friday–Sunday, 29–31 August at Stradbally in County Laois, Ireland. The festival was headlined by Sigur Rós on the Friday, George Clinton and Franz Ferdinand on the Saturday, and My Bloody Valentine and Sex Pistols on the Sunday.

Florence and the Machine performed for the first time in Ireland at Electric Picnic 2008.

Build-up

Tickets

The 2008 festival was confirmed when the official Electric Picnic website announced the usual pre-sale was to happen again. These tickets went on sale on 9 November 2007 and full price tickets went on sale on Friday 28 March at 9 p.m. Weekend tickets—there are no individual day ones—cost €240 including camping, with the various sites opening at 9 a.m. on Friday 29 August. Camper van access cost €60. Also available were family tickets permitting entrance for two adults plus four children aged 12 and under. Otherwise it was strictly over 18s with photo ID required. Tickets had sold out by 17 June.