Excitment is building in Stradbally as the first Electric Picnic guests begin to arrive

Excitement is building in Stradbally as the first of the Electric Picnic guests arrived in campervans this afternoon. 

Their arrival at 2pm on Wednesday was preceded by the arrival hundreds of festival workers who began descending on the town weeks ago.

Gardaí were out in force directing traffic this afternoon and the town was teeming with workers in high visibility vests as Stradbally prepared to host its largest ever Electric Picnic, with daily attendances of 80,000 guests. 

In Ramsbottoms on the Main Street, Stradbally native Stacey Corbally was at work behind the bar.  Stacey has been in Stradbally for every festival since it began in 2004 and has never seen it as busy as the bar prepares to put on nightly entertainment. 

“It actually feels like it’s bigger. We have had workers coming in now for the past three weeks. The minute the Steam Rally ended we were literally straight into EP,” she explained. 

“Last night was hopping, we had the Dooley Brothers. Tonight we have got a DJ, Monday we had a band and Thursday we’ve got a band,” she said.  

“There will be a big shindig on Monday for all the staff, all the workers, and then they will start fizzling off towards the end of the week. Some of them have come straight from Leeds Festival,”  said Stacey. 

A short distance down the street, Manager of the St Vincent de Paul shop, Sinead Moore, was busily preparing for the visitors to arrive. She too has seen a large pick up in footfall since the August Bank Holiday weekend.  

“We have been so busy all week and the shop is absolutely buzzing. There is a lot of workers in the Picnic and they are coming down for supplies. Now with the forecast for rain we have been so busy, they are looking for blankets, they are looking for boots, rain gear, you name it. Hats are flying off the shelves,” Sinead remarked.

She said “last year we needed lighter clothes, maybe sunglasses, that type of thing. This year it is all blankets, boots, rain gear, warm clothes.” 

Sinead said there are people from all over the world calling in to the shop ahead of the festival.

“It is sort of the highlight of the year for us. We save up supplies all year long. Since last year we have been holding certain items that might not sell during the year but for the Picnic everything sells. Anything unusual, outrageous, skimpy costumes, things that you mightn’t normally sell, anything vibrant, neon colours, sequence… we have something for everybody,” she said. 

Sinead is thrilled to have the Electric Picnic being held annually in Stradbally. “It is absolutely marvellous because all the money we take in goes back into the community, it’s fantastic,” she said. 

Sylvester Phelan runs The Grandstand convenience store close to the entrance to the Electric Picnic site. He also noticed the increased crowds in the town this year. 

“I have met people here already today from America. I met somebody from Christchurch(New Zealand), lots from the UK. It is amazing,” he said. 

“The place comes alive so it does. The business community are all very happy. The pubs are jammed, the restaurants are jammed, we are doing dinners here ten at a time,” he said. 

Sylvester said there are unusual requests from “the nicest of people” and he said you never know who is going to drop in.

“It is very good for business. You can sell unusual things, very diverse things. I sold one man a shirt for instance. I am not a tailor. You get a chance to sell things you would never sell for the rest of the year,” Syvester remarked.

“There can be no other town in Ireland that experiences this phenomenon, it is just amazing. It is all thanks to Melvin Benn(Managing Director of Festival Republic) for bringing the whole thing here,” he remarked.  

Sylvester, whose daughter is Fine Gael Cllr Vivienne Phelan, said Mr Benn was responsible for pumping millions of euro into the local economy and he believes it should be acknowledged by local government. He would like to see Mr Benn and his team being given a Civic Reception by the Council. “I would  actually ask for a ceremonial reception for this guy and his team,” he said. 

He said he was excited about this year's Electric Picnic and looking forward to the weekend ahead.