Electric Youth returns to Electric Picnic 2026!
Electric Youth Returns to EP
Do you dream of performing on stage? Have you a singing voice that you’d like to share with the world, or perhaps spoken word is your thing? If the answer is ‘yes!’, now is your chance to shine!
Electric Picnic and Youth Work Ireland Laois are thrilled to announce the return of the Electric Youth Music and Arts initiative for its eighth fabulous year!
Electric Youth is a vibrant celebration of creativity and talent which provides a platform for showcasing the remarkable skills and passions of young people - many are self taught artists, musicians, singers, dancers, or poets, and some are creating and performing to an enthusiastic and encouraging audience for the first time at Electric Youth.
Electric Picnic has a very special connection with the people of Laois and has always been committed to fostering the creativity of young people in the county, and giving them a unique platform.
Since being established in 2018 by Youth Work Ireland Laois, the Electric Youth Music and Arts initiative has brought huge excitement and phenomenal opportunities to many incredibly talented young people from across the county, and the country!
Electric Youth showcases the transformative power of Music, Arts and Youth Work, highlighting its positive impact on the lives of its participants, and not only offers a chance to perform to a live audience and industry professionals, but also gives the winners an experience-of-a-lifetime, taking to the stage and performing at the legendary Electric Picnic!
Meet & Greet sessions will take place on Saturday 4th July at Youth Work Ireland Laois, where the semi-finals will take place on Wednesday 8th July from 6:30pm- 8pm for 14-17year olds, and on Thursday 9th July from 6:30pm -8pm for 17-24 year olds. The shortlisted winners from both nights will go forward to the spectacular Grand Final which will take place on Friday 14th August from 7pm-10pm at the Dunamaise Arts Theatre, Portlaoise!
So, if you spend your time singing into your hairbrush in front of the bathroom mirror or dancing like a dervish across the kitchen floor, we want to hear from you!
Applications are now open to young people from ages 14 to 24 years old, and the application form can be accessed by emailing ey@ywilaois.com – the closing date for sign-up is Thursday 25th June.
Once again, we are enormously grateful for the support and generosity of Melvin Benn, Joe Pimenta-Benn, Anton Cullen, and the entire Electric Picnic team, Pat Wallace of LOETB, David Broderick of Creative Ireland Laois, and all of the fabulous Youth Work Ireland Laois team, who enable and empower our young people through this phenomenal project which has caught the imagination of a generation of young creative minds, and promotes a valuable sense of self-belief.
