Melvin Benn

Electric Picnic food: Is it really overpriced or is there more to it?

A three-day festival, 75,000 hungry souls, and eye-watering prices – TikTokers-turned-critics didn’t just critique, they condemned

Thu Aug 22 2024 - 12:00

Electric Picnic promoter hints at expansion of festival beyond 75,000

Melvin Benn says festival is one of the biggest in Europe and there is demand for more tickets for it

Sun Aug 18 2024 - 16:40

Electric Picnic 2024: Fans complain about ‘awful’ experience after being directed to overflow campsites

This year’s event at Stradbally in Co Laois will be the biggest in its 20-year history, with 75,000 people on site for the weekend

Fri Aug 16 2024 - 21:02

Electric Picnic tickets sell out in half an hour

Festival returns after two year Covid-19 hiatus with Dermot Kennedy, Arctic Monkeys, Tame Impala

Fri Mar 11 2022 - 10:17

Caveat: Are we in grip of Nphet-imposed ‘culture of fear’?

Live events industry wants leadership thinking to evolve but danger still lurks

Fri Aug 20 2021 - 05:24

Electric Picnic 2021: Staging a Covid-free festival is possible. Insuring it mightn’t be

Hugh Linehan: Pilot events in UK are promising but will Government underwrite the risk?

Sat May 15 2021 - 07:00

Cancellation of Dublin Horse Show casts doubt on large-scale summer events

RDS says there is too much uncertainty around to plan ahead for the event

Fri May 07 2021 - 15:30

Electric Picnic hopes vaccination programme will allow festival proceed

Event licences for most outdoor festivals in the State were rolled over from last year

Mon Mar 08 2021 - 13:30

Cultural landscape on the other side of the pandemic will be very different

So many festivals and gigs have been cancelled, while the future for theatres, music venues, galleries and cinemas is uncertain

Sat Mar 28 2020 - 07:00

Electric Picnic capacity to be expanded to 70,000 next year

Increase in size is response to ‘unsatiated demand’, says promoter Melvin Benn

Fri Dec 06 2019 - 18:01

Electric Picnic aftermath: Campers leave fewer tents, but plenty of chairs and gazebos

Organisers estimate ‘30 per cent more tents’ were taken home from campsites this year

Mon Sept 02 2019 - 17:07

Electric Picnic promoter calls for an end to abandoned tents

Melvin Benn says persuasion, not coercion, will get people to ‘do the right thing’

Mon Aug 12 2019 - 18:54

Electric Picnic to expand for 2019, swelling capacity to 57,000

Main Stage arena to be enlarged after success of pop acts, says Festival Republic

Sun Sept 02 2018 - 20:35

Electric Picnic: First look inside the festival site

50,000 people will descend on Stradbally this weekend for the end-of-summer festival

Tue Aug 28 2018 - 16:40

Busting out: art at Electric Picnic 2018

This year’s festival will include the work of more than 70 artists and art groups

Sat Aug 18 2018 - 05:00

Harassment at festivals: ‘He started thrusting . . . I froze’

Sexual misconduct has long been part of gigs and festivals. Tackling it is everybody’s job

Sat Jul 07 2018 - 06:05

Electric Picnic 2018 line-up revealed

Kendrick Lamar, St Vincent, N.E.R.D, Dua Lipa and Massive Attack among acts announced

Thu Mar 15 2018 - 11:30

Electric Picnic: Arrests down as ‘friendly’ festival ends smoothly

Security at Stradbally opus stepped up this year, but the impact appeared to be minimal

Mon Sept 04 2017 - 05:00

With Orchestra collaborations, 2FM give the people what they want

Double bill with Jenny Greene and DJ Mo K among biggest hits of EP2017 so far

Sat Sept 02 2017 - 18:00

Smooth start to Electric Picnic despite increased security

Heightened security ‘observing and profiling’ and designed to be low-key, say organisers

Sat Sept 02 2017 - 01:00

Electric Picnic to stay in Stradbally for at least a decade

‘Ten years is the minimum,’ says organiser as site set-up for this year is revealed

Tue Aug 29 2017 - 18:49

Salty Dog: Stradbally’s original pirate music ship

How Music Works: A boatload of scurvy musicians is a big port of call at Electric Picnic

Wed Aug 23 2017 - 14:00

Longitude organisers apologise for problems at festival entrance

Festival attendees left ‘extremely distressed’ over pushing and congestion in Friday queues

Sat Jul 15 2017 - 17:25

Melvin Benn would ‘absolutely welcome any regulation’ of secondary ticketing market

Comments come after Electric Picnic sells out in less than five minutes, ahead of lineup announcement

Tue Mar 28 2017 - 09:49

What has Electric Picnic to do to maintain its popularity?

While you could envisage the site taking another couple of thousand punters, the less-is-more approach probably makes sense in the long run.

Wed Sept 07 2016 - 15:00

Lana Del Rey announced for Electric Picnic

Other acts include LCD Soundsystem, New Order and The Chemical Brothers

Thu Mar 03 2016 - 01:00

Electric Picnic in tune

Accounts filed for company behind music festival show profits of €650,000 for 2014

Fri Oct 23 2015 - 09:30

Electric Picnic: Crowd to exceed 50,000 at sold-out festival

Blur and Grace Jones among star attractions at Ireland’s biggest music festival

Tue Sept 01 2015 - 17:30

Electric Picnic: Blur confirmed as headliners for Stradbally

Britpop stalwarts will be joined by Sam Smith, Grace Jones and Interpol

Tue May 05 2015 - 13:28

Electric Picnic festival may have capacity of 47,000 this year

Florence and the Machine and Underworld confirmed as headliners

Wed Mar 04 2015 - 12:55

As positive Picnic packs up, next year’s tickets go on sale

Exotic food, belted ballads, word play – but atmosphere takes centre stage

Mon Sept 01 2014 - 01:00

Gates open for the biggest Electric Picnic festival

Some 40,000 music fans expected to attend sold-out event this weekend

Fri Aug 29 2014 - 19:23

Electric Picnic gives first glimpse of weekend’s fare

Line-up includes Beck, Portishead, Outkast, Chic and Pet Shop Boys, with weather set to improve as weekend progresses

Wed Aug 27 2014 - 06:10

Reynolds secures orders on Electric Picnic ticket discounts

Promoter claims he lost out as a result of being excluded from volume discounting arrangement

Thu Mar 20 2014 - 17:13