All Together Now, the festival-shaped brainchild of the man who founded Electric Picnic in 2004 only to leave 10 years later, is back again this weekend. The late John Reynolds may have taken a risk setting up the medium-sized endeavour in Co Waterford, but, now in its fifth year (there was a pandemic hiatus), the festival is once again set to bring thousands of eager revellers to Curraghmore Estate.
Across an area of natural amphitheatres, gentle hills and hidden forests, All Together Now boasts several stages of music, spoken word, comedy, workshops, wellness activities and whatever New-Age artsy things are in vogue today.
With more than 25,000 expected to descend on the Co Waterford estate for the festival, a bit of forward planning can do no harm. So what do you need to know?
When and where is it on?
The festival is on from Friday, August 2nd, to Sunday, August 4th, at Curraghmore Estate in Co Waterford. Early entry is available on Thursday, August 1st.
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Are there any tickets left?
At the time of writing, there are still some weekend camping tickets available for €249 each, excluding booking fees. You can purchase them at ticketmaster.ie. Buy tickets from accredited sources only, and add yours to your phone’s wallet, too, to keep it handy.
Who is performing and when?
With a variety of acts scheduled to perform over the weekend, festivalgoers are spoiled for choice. Headliners for this year include Jorja Smith, James Vincent McMorrow, The National, Róisín Murphy, The Mary Wallopers, Natasha Beddingfield and The Prodigy.
As with the headliners, there is no shortage of Irish music acts lined across the other stages, including The Murder Capital, King Kong Company, Kojaque and Soda Blonde, to name a few. At the Belonging Bandstand, you won’t want to miss Tommy Tiernan, Panti Bliss and Jenny Greene, plus, there are several spots for special guests across the different stages.
Check out the full line-up below.
Friday, August 2nd
Main Stage
- Jorja Smith
- James Vincent McMorrow
- Declan McKenna
- Trinity Orchestra
Something Kind Of Wonderful
- Kiasmos (Live)
- Kingfishr
- Kölsch
- New Jackson
- Dave Lofts
Lovely Days
- Confidence Man
- Glass Beams
- Maribou State
- George Fitzgerald
- Yaya Bey
- Kean Kavanagh
- Cardinals
Arcadia ‘The Bug’
- Ross From Friends presents Bubble Love
- Yung Singh
- Becky
- S-Agenda
The Circle
- The Murder Capital
- Morgana
- Shiv and special guest
- Shana
- Fynch
Belonging Bandstand
- Jenny Greene
- Cooks But We’re Chefs
- Toshin
- Fizzy Orange
- And He, The Fool
- Still Blue
- Stevie G
Immerse
- Ben Ufo
- Or: La
- DJ Aya
- R. Kitt
- Reger
Saturday, August 3rd
Main Stage
- The National
- Róisín Murphy
- The Mary Wallopers
- Natasha Beddingfield
- Sing Along Social
Something Kind Of Wonderful
- Floating Points
- Kojaque
- King Kong Company
- Overhead, The Albatross
- Biird
Lovely Days
- Gorgon City
- Soda Blonde
- Eliza Rose
- Joy (Anonymous)
- Gemma Dunleavy
- Hak Baker
- Glasshouse Perform Ryuichi Sakamoto
Arcadia ‘The Bug’
- Kink
- Sama Abdulhadi
- Efa O’Neill
- Bing Nz
- Republik
The Circle
- Optimo (Espacio)
- Rachael Lavelle
- Ezra Williams
- Chalk
- Lemoncello
- Sweetemondae
- Dublin Modular
- The Ryan & Podge Show
Belonging Bandstand
- Panti Bliss and guest
- Kabin Crew and Lisdoonvarna Crew
- Elaine Mai feat Maykay
- Dublin Gospel Choir
- Marcus O’Laoire
- Ol Times
Immerse
- Pretty Girl
- Sam Alfred
- Stüm
- Special guest
- Siofra
Sunday, August 4th
Main Stage
- The Prodigy
- Future Islands
- Barry Can’t Swim Live
- The Wailers
- RTÉ Concert Orchestra and guests perform the music of Sinéad O’Connor, Shane MacGowan and Christy Dignam
Something Kind Of Wonderful
- Paul Kalkbrenner
- Slowdive
- Oxn
- John Francis Flynn
- NewDad
- Muireann Bradley
- Nils Hoffman
Lovely Days
- Hot Chip (DJ)
- Mano Le Tough
- B2b, special guest
- Sprints
- Beach Fossils
- Kokoroko
- House Plants
- Mary in the Junkyard
- Sunday special guest
Arcadia ‘The Bug’
- Special guest
- Effy
- Shee
- Puzzy Wranglers
The Circle
- Special guest
- Aby Coulibaly
- Nealo
- Mathman
- Efé Uly Eve
- The Ryan & Podge Show
Belonging Bandstand
- Tommy Tiernan
- The Dolly Show
- Prymary Colours
- Nialler 9
- Negro Impacto
- Babel Brass
- Kate Brennan Harding and Graham Smyth
Immerse
- Mano Le Tough (3hr set)
- Cormac
- Ok Williams
- C Frim
- Away From Dave
What else is there to see and do?
Like most music festivals, All Together Now’s website has a section advertising the various “experiences” on offer. As well as the music scheduled each day, festivalgoers will have access to spoken word, comedy, storytelling, yoga, saunas, hot tubs, live food demos, arcade games, magic shows, circus and craft workshops, sensory play areas for kids, football competitions, music bingo and more. At the Greencrafts Village, an “eco-conscious crafting hub”, you can take part in craft-making activities and, most importantly, you get to take what you make home to show off.
What time should I arrive?
Access to the campsite will be open from 4pm on Thursday, August 1st. Festival gates are open from 9am until 10pm each day.
How do I get there?
As with many festivals held in remote rural locations, it takes some planning to get there.
By car:
First and foremost, festival organisers have previously advised not to follow directions on a sat nav or Google Maps as it will not get you all the way to the festival site. The following advice was issued for last year’s festival:
- Do not travel to the festival via Carrick-on-Suir; presumably the town would become a traffic choke point if thousands of cars piled through in short succession.
- Organisers say details about parking at the site will be released shortly.
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By Bus:
- Expressway will run return services from Waterford, Cork and Dublin to the festival site. You can book your spot here.
What if I’m camping?
Many people will choose bring their own gear and camp at the festival. You can also hire basic camping equipment from Camplight for the weekend from €150. When it comes to camping at All Together Now, there’s no shortage of boutique options for those looking for more than a flimsy tent among the chaotic masses. Fancy paying more for accommodation? There are Podpads, Yippee tents and Silk Road tents, all at varying levels of modest luxury, and you can find out more here.
Toilets are dotted around the festival grounds and showers will be located in the campsites and available for use at specific times throughout the weekend. Camp fires and disposable barbecues are not permitted on site, and campers have been asked not to smoke in their tents for safety reasons.
What’s the security?
You must be aged 21 or over to gain access to All Together Now, with the exception of children aged 12 or below, who must be accompanied by a paying adult. There is a maximum limit of two children aged 12 and under per adult. People aged between 13 and 20 will not be allowed entry.
Festival organisers have suggested if you don’t need an item, don’t bring it. It’s a cashless festival so no need to bring any cash.
Stringent searches will be conducted upon entry to the festival grounds. Items not allowed include: fireworks, illicit drugs, glass, animals (except guide dogs), weapons, petrol generators, barbecues, gazebos, flag poles, garden furniture, laser pens, professional photographic equipment, selfie sticks, drones, umbrellas, megaphones and air horns, high-vis clothing, bicycles and sound systems.
Each person with a weekend camping ticket can bring alcohol at their first time of entry. They can bring either: 24 cans or 1 litre of spirits or 1.5 litre of wine for personal consumption. No glass bottles are allowed. Pre-packaged and cooked food is allowed to be brought to the campsite and no cooking is allowed. There will be food stalls and a supermarket at the festival.
Fans have been asked to report any crimes to on-site gardaí as soon as possible and anybody participating in antisocial behaviour will be liable for eviction from the festival without re-entry. The Garda station at Portlaw can be contacted on 051-387105.
Anything else?
There will be phone charging facilities on site, but no harm ensuring your phone is fully charged when you’re leaving the house. The festival bars are cashless and accept card and contactless payments – that means if your phone is your card, best make sure it’s charged. At music festivals, power banks are your friends.
For all things All Together Now, you can download the festival app and keep up to date with things throughout the weekend.
Weather forecast
At time of writing, there are tentative indications for high pressure to build closer to Ireland bringing more settled weather conditions.
Mean air temperatures are forecast to return to more seasonal values, around the climatological average. The forecast rainfall is more mixed with the potential for near or above average rainfall totals in some Atlantic coastal counties but below normal rainfall totals elsewhere.
