From boutique to bazaar: the Picnic comes of age

Jim Carrollon music

This was the year that the Electric Picnic grew up and stopped being a boutique festival. In fact, 2008 was the year of some subtle and not-so-subtle changes at Stradbally Hall, all of which combined to make this the event's most successful outing to date.

It began with the Picnic repositioning itself as a music and arts festival, a direct response to fierce competition for acts from MCD/Live Nation's Oxegen.

This was achieved by significantly improving and increasing what was on offer in the Spoken Word and Body & Soul areas, including bringing in some of the clout of the Arts Council to the former. This repositioning may also have been responsible for the downplaying of the Bodytonic dance stages, which were moved away from the main arena.

Add several other new features, from a hugely popular cooking stage to a vastly improved arts trail, and a bigger concentration on non-music areas, such as the consistently busy comedy tent, and it's clear that the Picnic now has a range of attractions which cannot be simply replicated by another festival.

Of course, they do have festival toilets, but complaining about the toilets at a festival is as pointless as complaining about the weather.

However, it's the increased scale of the Picnic that is the most significant change. While the festival still flies the boutique flag in areas such as the chi-chi campsite, the Picnic is more akin to a bazaar these days with the amount of stages, stalls and sideshows.

You're truly bamboozled by the quantity of things competing for attention. There is simply no way for anyone to take in absolutely everything.

While some people may grumble that this overload means they miss out on bands or performers, it's clear that more choices and options are what the vast majority of people are after. For them, the Picnic remains the only Irish festival truly worth their time and euro. Roll on 2009.

Upcoming gigs of Note

Note Productions may have been quiet since their Analog festival in Dublin's docklands in July, but that's set to change with a series of upcoming shows.

The company's autumn programme includes a world premiere of a new work by composer Gavin Bryars. Anáil Dé - The Breath Of Godwill be performed by Iarla Ó Lionáird and the Crash Ensemble at Imma, Dublin on November 14th and the Solstice Centre, Navan on November 15th.

November also sees a visit from renowned drummer Manu Katché and his group.

They play Dublin's Tripod (2nd), Cork's Opera House (3rd), Dolan's Warehouse in Limerick (4th) and Navan's Solstice Arts Centre (5th).

There's also new music from Norway in the shape of In The Country and Susanna playing at Dublin's Whelan's on October 25th.

Festive form continues

The festival season isn't quite over yet. A plethora of extra acts have been added to this year's Sligo Live festival, taking place in the northwest from October 23rd to 27th.

Sly & Robbie and Cathy Davey are the somewhat eclectic co-headliners at the Radisson SAS Hotel on October 24th. Wonder is there any chance of a collaboration on the night?

Others playing the festival include Orchestra Baobab, Solas, Tom Baxter (the poor man's David Gray), Le Vent Du Nord, Fred and comedian Jason Byrne.

More information at www.sligolive.ie

ETC

• The best triple-header of the year? That would be No Age, Times New Viking and Los Campesinos at Whelan's, Dublin on October 17th.

• Hear songs from the fourth Bell X1 album at Dublin's Vicar Street; they play on Nov 11th and 12th.

• Josh Ritter plays a show with a 24-piece orchestra at Dublin's Vicar Street on December 11th, a reprise of his Boston Symphony Hall show in June.

• The reformed Miami Show Band play Children In Crossfire benefits this month at Dublin's Vicar Street (16th) and Belfast's Grand Opera House (17th).