Who says you can’t mix water and electricity?
It might be a washout but nothing will stop the fun at Electric Picnic
IT has been, in no uncertain terms, a washout – but three years on from the last Electric Picnic spirits remain high in Stradbally this weekend.
The music and arts festival – Ireland’s largest with 70,000 in attendance – kicked into life again on Friday after a two-year hiatus over Covid concerns.
And so far revellers have flocked to performances by Fontaines DC, Dermot Kennedy, Megan Thee Stallion, Pixies, Tame Impala, The Kooks and many more.
Torrential rain over the last two nights has made negotiating the Co. Laois arena and campsites more complicated, with grass turning to mud and only the hardiest of tents surviving the downpours without taking in some water.
But enthusiastic fans insist the weather hasn’t spoiled the party, and spells of sunshine forecast for today are sure to be greeted with pagan-like reverence.
‘The sun came out [on Saturday] and it was crazy,’ said Róisín Brady, 20, from Palmerstown, Dublin, attending her first Picnic and kitted out yesterday in assorted shades of purple.
‘We were sitting in the campsite and it had been raining, then the sun came out and everybody just
‘When the sun came out everybody cheered’
started cheering. It was amazing.
‘It rained all the way through Becky Hill, but we danced through it.’
Artist Aideen Barry from Mayfield, Co. Cork, sporting black leather and a sunshine headpiece, said there was a ‘lovely, friendly, gorgeous, totally multicultural crowd’ in attendance – ‘a complete snapshot of the Irish public’.
‘You see senior citizens with their kids, with their grandkids there. I just met one of my former lecturers a minute ago and yet I met one of my former students. All generations. Loads of kids here so it’s a really good buzz.’
Sparkles, glitter and luminous colours were the order of the day, and heavy boots a common sight to help cope with the persistent downpours and wet conditions.
Yvonne Ryan from Wexford coupled a pair with glitterball pants and a sparkly shoulder number, while Jean Hynes from Galway rocked a pair of Doc Martens with a white miniskirt and top combo and black floppy hat to protect against sun and rain.