Joyce Fegan
Known as the festival with something for everyone, the sold-out Electric Picnic kicks off this Friday with acts from The Prodigy to the ’90s girl band B*witched and plenty of non-music entertainment too.
If you are one of the 52,000 ticket-holders, there are a few essential things you need to know for the three-day festival taking place in Stradbally, Co Laois.
And if you do not yet have a ticket and were hoping to rock up to the gates of Stradbally this Friday, An Garda Síochána has urged you to think again. Fake print-at-home tickets, which is not how the festival’s tickets are formatted, are in circulation.
Once you do get inside the gates this Friday, there are plenty of stages to choose from over the weekend, including the Main Arena, Body and Soul, Other Voices, and Rankin’s Wood.
Brand New Friend kick off the main-stage action at 5pm, followed by Northern Irish rockers Ash, Scottish synth trio Chvrches, and Walking on Cars, before renowned rapper Kendrick Lamar headlines from 10.40pm till 12 midnight.
Massive Attack and NERD top the bill on Saturday and The Prodigy have the honours from 10.30pm on Sunday.
The Other Voices Stage performers include David Kitt from 10.30pm on Friday, Kojaque on Saturday, 11.50pm to 12.40am, and Columbia Mills on Sunday, from 8.20pm.
Music is not the only form of entertainment, with the much-anticipated Mindfield having the likes of Marian Keyes, Mike McCormack, and Blindboy Boatclub among its line-up.
There will be a new podcast stage called Ah, Hear! and a new writing and ideas stage called Manifesto. Seamus Heaney’s 100 Poems will be read and Michael Harding will also be on stage. It won’t be all serious, though, as satirical website Waterford Whispers News will present a Sky News-style special
But in order to enjoy any of this, you will first need to get to Stradbally. If you’re travelling by car, there are different routes into the festival depending on the direction you are coming from and whether you are being dropped off, are a weekend ticket holder, or a weekend camper.
For users of public transport, Bus Éireann is running regular services from Dublin city centre to Stradbally for the duration of the weekend and for people taking the train, Portlaoise Train Station is the closest.
Finally, the weather — it is expected to be mixed, with showers on Friday night and Sunday, but it is set to be warm, with temperatures reaching 19C.
