Laois Brewery hits out over Electric Picnic exclusion

Ballykilcavan Farm and Brewery owner David Walsh-Kemis has called out Electric Picnic over their exclusion.

The Stradbally based brewery is a family-run business which has been in operation since 2017. The farm has been in the owner's family for over 13 generations.

Local breweries in Laois are not granted permission to take part in Electric Picnic, which Mr Walsh-Kemis attributes to Heineken's sponsorship.

"Because Heineken are the main sponsors, they get complete exclusivity over beer sales," he said.

"When you’re in the festival, it looks like there are a lot of different brands there, but every single one of them is 100% owned by Heineken.

"No one else is allowed in, so we’re not allowed to enter a bar in there. We’re absolutely not trying to take over from Heineken, that would be ridiculous. The size of our brewery can’t even compare to theirs," he explained.

"Unfortunately, this seems to be the way the world works, that big brands are able to buy exclusivity and price out others. If we were the same size as Heineken, we could bid against them to buy the rights from them, but we’re obviously not.

"We’re so close to the festival, that we can literally hear the music from our farm and from the brewery. To me, it’s a shame that the world is set up in such a way that this is allowed to happen," the business owner said.

This is the second year that Mr Walsh-Kimis has been campaigning for the inclusion of local brands, and he doesn’t see this situation changing any time soon.

“It’ll never change voluntarily. The only way this can change is if Laois County Council decide to make a change, or if there’s a central government initiative," he said.

"To me, it’s completely anti-competitive. This monopoly is completely legal, is it weren’t someone would have done something about it."

Last August, Ballykilcavan Farm and Brewery posted a video explaining their situation, which subsequentially went viral.

"We put up a video last year explaining the situation, and we had an absolutely massive reaction. Even at Forest Fest recently, nearly every person would ask us “are you in the Picnic?" Mr Walsh-Kimis explained.

Ballykilcavan brewery is just 2.5km from the site of the Electric Picnic (@EPfestival), but we are not allowed to serve our beers there. The festival claims to be sustainable, but despite our three national sustainability awards, we're still not allowed in. Here's why. pic.twitter.com/QGExg0tFDZ

— Ballykilcavan (@Ballykilcavan) August 17, 2023

"On the ground, even in terms of social media, the support has been overwhelming. It’s been great to see such massive positive reactions. 

Mr Walsh-Kimis has said that the support has been overwhelming, and was moved to see such positive reactions.

He states that through all of his campaigning, he has yet to receive a response from organisers.

"The festival organisers simply don’t respond to me. The Council didn’t respond to me as such- I’ve had a few councillors plead my case to whoever is in charge of planning, but ultimately it comes down to them," he said.

"It is massively frustrating. We are a small business, we can’t compete with the likes of Heineken. Their turnover is €34 billion a year, we wouldn’t even bother to try compete. If we got a bar in there, I genuinely don’t think they would even notice a change to their turnover," the businessman said.

"These big companies don’t like competition, even with small breweries the size of us. They see it as us coming in and stepping on their territory. 

"Unless there’s some sort of change made by local planning departments or central government, these big companies will continue to see it as their own exclusive territory, and that’s what we’d like to change," he said.

Ballykilcavan Brewery attended this years Forest Fest, and Mr Walsh-Kimis hailed it a fantastic experience.

"When we were at forest fest a couple of weeks ago, the organisers were happy to have us and it was great, we were very appreciative of the fantastic opportunity," he said.

"It’s obviously a different situation with Electric Picnic. What we’d be looking for is something like Forest Fest, where there’s a big brand in there to supply the bodies, which we can’t do, with smaller brands like ourselves to provide more choice to consumers and support local businesses."

Laois County Council oversee the planning permission for Electric Picnic. Last February, Ballykilcavan Brewery submitted a suggestion that local brands be allowed entry to the festival.

Pictured: David Walsh-Kimis of Ballykilcavan Farm and Brewery.

"We put in a submission last February when it opened. We also posted a link on our social medias saying that submissions were open, and for people interested to submit suggestions about brands they would like to see featured at Electric Picnic," Mr Walsh-Kemis said.

"We received a very strong response from this, but ultimately, the Council decided to not go with the suggestions, staying the same as previous years."

Ballykilcavan Farm and Brewery are offering a glamping site for Electric Picnic goers through the company Pitched Perfect.

"The glamping site will be on our farm, with a shuttle bus in and out from the farm to the festival," Mr Walsh-Kimis said.

"It’s aimed for people seeking a quieter and more luxurious stay, while also enjoying the festival. The same company provided glamping for forest fest, and we're looking forward to welcoming festival goers," he finished.