'Prepare for the weekend of your life' Electric Picnic plugged in and powered up
Melvin Benn on the 20th anniversary of his Laois festival
The huge site of the 2024 Electric Picnic has been revealed to media ahead of gates opening this Wednesday, and it promises to be one of the best ever events.
Festival Republic MD Melvin Benn spoke to press after a whirlwind tour showing off new additions this year, such as the brilliant plane crash site Survivor Bar and the Smirnoff Stage. Old favourites are back including My Lovely Horse Rescue with their furry friends, Trailer Park and Green Crafts.
“The main advice is prepare for the weekend of your life”, he advises first time goers.
The festival is two weeks earlier this year, but he said it won't interfere with farmers' harvests, he told the Leinster Express / Laois Live.
"I don't think it is harvest actually. I think the harvest has been delayed a little bit. I think they need a bit more sunshine before harvest is actually ready. So no we're not going to delay the harvest, we've got lots of plans. If there was a mad rush of sunshine making it blazing dry and it got into the right position we're ready to accommodate that.
"Obviously when I changed the date I didn't know it was harvest season, Thomas (Cosby) told me it was ok, Thomas has a tractor so I thought Thomas was a farmer. Anyway the farmers said it wasn't a good date so I'm working hard to accommodate them and it's all going well.
"I'm not going to mention the act that we wanted on the Main Stage to change the weekend, but we're delighted that we have that act and lots of others this particular weekend," he said.
Festival Director Melvin Benn with David Murphy from the ESB at the new Electric Picnic substation at the Electric Picnic Press Recce day Tuesday 13th August 2024. Picture: Alf Harvey. SUPPLIED from LHP for Electric Picnic 2024.
Mr Benn delightedly opened the doors of the stone walled ESB substation newly installed to power the main stage, meaning Kylie, Calvin Harris, Gerry Cinnamon and many more will be using as much renewable electricity as possible, a first in Ireland or the UK in a major festival, he said.
“This is really fundamental. It’s something I’m massively proud of. It is absolutely essential for what we are doing in terms of bringing high voltage power into the site… to transform it down to 450v at the stage into three phases, that means we can use sustainably sourced energy via the ESB to power the main stage. For me the Electric Picnic had to show the way. The ESB have been amazing in helping us get this far and turning it around this quickly," he said.
He told the Leinster Express / Laois Live that he plans to extend it.
“We’ve got the power we need into the site, so we’ll see how it works this year and then maybe for 2026 onwards we might start seeing how we can develop that further," he said.
The ESB aims to achieve Net Zero for fossil fuel by 2040, by switching to wind, solar and other renewable sources of energy.
Among the big names featuring in the preview day were former President of Ireland Mary McAleese who with her friend, RTE's Mary Kennedy will be holding a podcast in Mindfield, called Changing Times at 2.30pm on Sunday.
The new Smirnoff Stage replacing Casa Bacardi, promises make up glo-ups, circus, dance, with international and local artists and DJs, and accessibility for all including an ISL interpretor, Braille and colour coded menus, lower bar areas, noise reducing earbuds and a lift to the upper tier levels.
Electric Picnic takes place from August 16 to 18, with the sold-out capacity of 75,000. Resale tickets are available through TicketMaster.