Electric Picnic is kicking off a little early this year, with the music and arts festival taking place from Thursday 15 - Sunday 18 of August in its home of Stradbally, Co. Laois.
As well as an incredible line-up of music and comedy across the big stages, EP will play host to a whole host of alternative areas, offering up a wholesome crafting haven in Green Crafts, fascinating podcasts surrounding mental health in MindField, and a new area with ISL interpreters and Braille cocktail* menus at the Smirnoff stage.
Going behind the scenes of the annual festival, Irish media were invited to get an sneak peek of what festival goers can expect this coming weekend.
Sustainability
"The main advice is to prepare for the weekend of your life," Festival Republic MD Melvin Benn told the press.
"This is something I'm massively proud of," he continued, walking towards the new Electric Picnic substation, a grid that will ensure that the main stage of the festival will be powered by renewable energy.
"It means we can use sustainably sourced energy via ESB to power the main stage," he explained, noting that, if everything goes to plan, he hopes to develop the idea further from 2026 on.
"At the moment, it's getting that first phase of getting the main stage up on sustainable power."
According to the festival director, all of the other generators on site are powered by 100% bio-diesel and festival goers will likely note a number of additional measures being taken to make the event more eco-friendly.
You can see the full list here, but highlights include the banning of single use vapes, campsite hubs for canned food donation, dedicated sections for broken tents and empty batteries, water re-fill stations for reusable bottles, and compostable containers from food traders.
Accessibility
The Smirnoff Stage will include an ISL interpreter, Braille and colour-coded cocktail menus, lower bar areas, noise-reducing earbuds, and an accessible lift to the upper-tier mezzanine.
Smirnoff Brand Experience Lead Jake Brown told RTÉ Lifestyle that the team wanted to "ensure that we could be a beacon for accessibility across the space and across festivals in Ireland."
Brown explained that they are trialing these measures in the hopes that they can evolve further going forward: "I think the ethos is to ensure that we're giving everyone an opportunity to be apart of the mix and feel comfortable in the space."
Other areas of the festival will be working to accomodate a range of gig-goers too: All Abilities Ireland will be running a sensory tent located at Croí in the Late Night Arena; refrigerated medication storage is available in the arena, dedicated accessible lanes will be available at each main bar; raised viewing platform will be available to approved customers.
Mindfulness and meditation
MindField, the festival's original brain trust, is set up as an oasis of inspiring and enlightening conversations with five stages serving up programmes of podcasts, literary readings, poetry performances, interviews, and more.
Dermot Whelan will bring his Mind Full Podcast to the Ah, Hear Podcast Stage this weekend, where he will be chatting with Blindboy Boatclub about meditation, stress and otters.
Over on the Manifesto stage, actor Robert Sheehan will be sharing insights from his new book Playing Dead about meditation, his life and the world, with fellow actor and standup comedian, Dylan Moran.
If you want to experience a little mindfulness of your own, head over to Green Crafts - a holistic, earthy haven within the Main Arena that will be home to Ireland's best craft makers lead small, friendly, drop-by workshops.
Switch off, calm the mind, and work with your hands via traditional black-smithing, jewellery making, pottery, flower crown crafting and even stained glass making.
Co-directors and mother and daughter dup Clodagh and Marie told RTÉ Lifestyle that they will be hosting a 'happy hour' whereby festival goers of any level can swing by and try out the techniques for free.
"It's the most wholesome way to start off your festival morning," smiles Clodagh. "From 10am-11am, the first hour open, all the workshops on the field are free, so you can come and have a go at the blacksmith's forge, stamp metal, or get involved in any of the workshops happening. No experience needed."
"We're totally off-grid," adds Marie. "All the power is led by people in terms of people power - pedal, hand, a little bit of solar."
