SO it’s that time of year again, when Stradbally Hall becomes a sea of brightly-coloured tents and a carnival atmosphere descends on the park.
But what’s it really like in the rest of the town? Does some the magic of the Picnic spread out across Stradbally or does it pass the town by?
The Laois Nationalist spoke to local business-owners to find out what the Electric Picnic is like for them.
For Chris Maguire, owner of Stradbally Fayre, it’s one of the busiest weekends of the year and the atmosphere around his restaurant is electric! “Absolutely there is an increase in business and there is a great buzz around the place and people are in great spirits. We also have a catering unit on site and it’s only getting going when things are quietening down here.”
It’s non-stop in the restaurant, with lots of hungry festival-goers queuing up for the free range and organic food that Chris serves “Basically, from 9.30am to 3pm it’s all breakfasts in the restaurant. We have 40 seats inside and 20 outside and they are all full for that. At times last year we had queues out the door and the place was full when it rained.”
Chris’s food has proven to be a big hit with picnickers, with burgers, lasagne and jumbo sausage rolls top of the charts. They also sell a mind-boggling amount of organic chips. “We cut our own chunky chips and for the Picnic we need to cut over a tonne of chips!”
The Picnic also brings an increase in business for local publican Richard Dunne, though not to the same extent. “The increase in business is kind of spasmodic over the weekend, but there would be a general increase in the level of business that we do,” he tells us.
Many of those attending the festival tend to stay within the campsite and don’t venture out to explore what’s on offer in Stradbally. “A lot of the festival-goers are compounded on site and don’t come into the town, so the festival isn’t as good for business as the steam rally is because the rally is a kind of homecoming for locals, as well as bringing visitors to the area,” says Richard.
However, last year the decision by the festival organisers not to show the all-Ireland hurling final on site proved to be a big boon for business in Dunne’s pub as people flocked to see Kilkenny’s fourth victory in a row. “It was exceptionally busy for three or four hours during the match, with lots of people coming down to watch it.”
As Kilkenny’s bid for an historic fifth title in a row won’t be shown in the grounds, Richard has prepared for the influx of sports fans eager to witness history. “We work off last year so we have put a marquee up out the back and brought in extra screens so that people can watch the match,” he says.
The feeling of the festival is carried out from the campsites to the town. “The festival goers are an absolute pleasure to deal with and I have never had any trouble with them,” he added.
For local shops, business picks up the day before and the day after the festival but the weekend itself isn’t exceptionally busy, as Ann Simpson of Gala explained. “We usually get a good bit of trade in the shop on Friday when people are going into the campsite and again on Monday when people are going home.”
The shop also has to increase its stock levels and it is hot food from the deli counter that is the biggest seller amongst Picnickers. “Certainly we would have to get a certain amount of extra stock in,” says Ann. “We find that the hot food and deli items sell really with people going to the Picnic.”
However, for shop owners there isn’t much of a benefit to their business from the Picnic. Ann continued: “Of course, the festival does bring a bit of a stir around the town, but it doesn’t really bring that much business into the place.”
So while the party atmosphere of the Electric Picnic does radiate out from the campsite, generating a happy buzz in the air for the weekend, the economic benefits that the festival brings to the town are harder to quantify.