Marking its 12th anniversary, and returning to the Sradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland, is Electric Picnic Music & Arts Festival, which has just released its official artist line-up that will be featured in the 3-day multi-stage event. According to Consequence of Sound, the newly released lineup will contain a wide array of artists from the indie-rock scene, with headliners that include big names like LCD Soundsystem, New Order. Lana Del Ray, The Avett Brothers, and many more. Reaching nearly 50,000 people last summer, the festival is looking to once again cater to the enormous crowd that will be attending the festival taking place from September 2nd thru the 4th.
12 years ago Electric Picnic started out as a mere one-day event the held only 10,000 people on a beautiful sunny September Saturday. The festival was published as a boutique musical festival holding such a diverse lineup of music, as well as art exhibitions, that it promptly sold out. This was a new phenomenon for Ireland and quickly became a regular occurrence and becoming one of the premiere European music festivals, the following year after its birth it turned into a weekend camping event. Founded by Robert Laffan in 2004, the festival was an immediate success, later on in 2009 Pod Concerts and Festival Republic became the majority shareholders which caused a much bigger production, and in 2010 Electric Picnic was voted for Best Medium-sized European Festival at the 2010 European Festival Awards. It has also been voted as Best Big Festival at each of the previous four Irish Festival Awards since they began in 2007 with attendance over 32,000 people.
Musically, Electric Picnic has always boasted some of the strongest lineups in the festival realm, while it differs from other festivals in Ireland in that the music choice is more eclectic than the more mainstream events, with previous artists such as The Beastie Boys, The Flaming Lips, Sex Pistols, Bjork, Sonic Youth, and so much more diverse popular artist to entice fans even more.
The Festival does not only emphasis on its music, Electric Picnic offers plenty of attractions for its guests such as a 24-hour movie tent, the Body & Soul arena (which is an ambient lounge that includes beanbags and massages for relaxation, as well as tarot card readings), a comedy tent which is curated by Gerry Mallon, and of course a festival staple; the silent disco. Another emphasis the festival has is their eco-friendly initiatives, which helps maintain a cleaner earth for the guests. What Electric Picnic is most strongly known for though is its emphasis on the quality of its festival services, such as food and sleeping arrangements, and keeping a relaxed and generally more positive atmosphere.
This year’s event will be no different from the last besides for its constant strive for improvement, as well as an incredible goal to make a more enjoyable festival experience, a textbook example of what a festival should be.
GA camping tickets are now on sale.
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