A sneak peek ahead of Electric Picnic as festival celebrates 21 years

ELECTRIC Picnic, one of Ireland’s biggest music and arts festivals, celebrates 21 years in operation this year.

The festival returns this weekend, 28 - 30 August, with 80,000 attendees expected to descend on Stradbally to catch the musicians, artists, comedians, yogis and foodies who promise to make this year’s festival a memorable one.

Every year the festival changes, with some fan favourites returning alongside interesting new additions. Here is just some of what to expect this weekend.

Nomad is a new addition to the Electric Picnic landscape this year, where attendees can book lunch in advance and be well fed for a night of dancing.

Nomad will be home to bookable restaurants: Ibile, celebrating the vibrant flavours and culture of West Africa, and Biang Biang, which serving authentic Chinese cuisine inspired by Chang’an province.

The restaurants will offer sittings between 12.30pm - 4pm with reservations available through the Electric Picnic app. Following the final sitting each day, the restaurants will transform into a more open dining space, offering walk-up food and drinks, with other options including Bah33, the Dublin-based Brazilian steakhouse and grill, Gyro Kings, serving up Greek-inspired flavours, and Wing It, the popular chicken wing chain founded in Belfast.

This year, Electric Picnic has added a whole extra night of comedy, as the tent opens from 6pm on Friday evening. The festival has welcomed the Las Vegas award-winning master magician and showman Steve Spade, who joins proceedings alongside the ‘cultured culchie’ Sinéad Quinlan from Cork, and Co. Meath’s own Taran O’Sullivan.

A new addition to the Serenity Garden in Croí this year is the Barefoot Garden, which offers a simple, radical invitation - take off your shoes and stand on the earth.

The GlowDepot, a “brand new city in the woods”, started life as an upcycled shopping trolley topped with a flashing LED umbrella, roaming Electric Picnic after dark. Fifteen years on, this piece of festival folklore has earned its own stage, showcasing neo-soul, underground and Irish hip-hop. Expect plenty of flashing lights.

The GlowDepot is set to become a new late-night party spot, presenting an ‘electrifying’ celebration of Irish club culture. GlowDepot’s basketball-themed side stage, ‘Courtside’, will be powered by DJs and performers across the weekend, while Dirty Circus will be hosting pop-up performances and roaming theatrical entertainment.

Ten years ago, a Cessna 340, “laden with a little too much hooch and flying below-the-radar”, came down in the woods, according to Electric Picnic legend, which also says that from the remains of the wreckage, survivors built a makeshift bar venue, eventually developing a stage and treetop village around it.

The result is now Survivors, a live music venue operated by the team behind Salty Dog, Berlinhaus, Brutopolie and Trailer Park.

During a press day on 25 August, the Timahoe Male Choir performed at Survivors for guests while the final preparations were being made to the stage.

Picnickers can settle into The Lovely Local this weekend too, as Guinness is available at Electric Picnic for the first time.

The Electric Picnic Main Stage currently sits waiting an array of acts across the festival weekend, including Lewis Capaldi, Gorillaz, Fontaines D.C., Sombr, Zara Larsson, CMAT, Amble and more.

Festival favourites such as Provedencia, Croí, Trailer Park, Fish Town, and Mindfield are set to return this year, as well as Mother, a Dublin LGBTQ+ club night, which brings its Queer Dance Party in the Woods back to Electric Picnic, transforming the festival's forest floor into a late-night dancefloor from Friday through Sunday.

The gardaí encourage those attending the festival to make their way to the site at Stradbally by public transport where possible.

Gardaí strongly encourage those not attending to avoid using the road networks around Stradbally from 10am Thursday 27 August to 5pm on Monday 31 August.