Moving Electric Picnic to mid-August in 2024 ‘will cause huge problems’, say farmers

The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has called on the organisers of Electric Picnic to “revisit” their decision to move the date of the annual festival next year to the “middle of harvest season”.

Festival Republic, the company behind Electric Picnic, announced earlier this week the 2024 Stradbally, Co Laois, event will be held on August 16th to 18th. The event has traditionally been held on the first weekend of September.

Melvin Benn, managing director of Festival Republic, said changing the date was “something that we have been giving consideration to for quite some time actually”.

“We want to see how it plays out. See how the booking of talent, the weather, etc, etc all plays out,” he said.

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However, John Fitzpatrick, county chairman of the IFA, called for the decision to be revisited.

“The Electric Picnic has become a huge event and much hard work has gone in over the years to retain the support of the local community,” he said. “This changing of the dates came out of the blue and it is going to cause huge problems for local farmers.”

Mr Fitzpatrick said the new dates are “right in the middle of harvest season”.

“To expect that the harvest and the movement of grain can take place with 70,000 people piling into a small rural town is not realistic,” he said. “It’s a time where there will be lots farm machinery on the roads at the busiest time of the year in one of the busiest tillage areas in the country,” he said. “There needs to be serious dialogue to resolve this issue and everything must be on the table.”

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Meanwhile, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and An Garda Síochána have joined forces to urge Electric Picnic attendees to stay safe on the road this weekend.

Some 70,000 people will attend the annual arts and music festival this year. Sam Waide, chief executive of the RSA, said festival-goers should “think responsibly when planning their journeys to and from the festival”.

“To date in 2023, we have already seen too many lives lost on our roads, with one in four being young people aged 16 to 25 years,” he said. “Slow down, don’t use a mobile phone while driving and remember, driving the morning after consuming drugs or alcohol will put you in danger.

“A very simple safety message for those attending Electric Picnic this weekend is: don’t drink and drive, don’t take drugs and drive.”

Garda Chief Supt Anthony Lonergan, of the Laois Offaly Kildare Division said it is “our priority to ensure that all those who travel to and from Electric Picnic are not put at risk by the minority of drivers who drive while under the influence of an intoxicant”.