The Festival Director of Electric Picnic has said he would love to have an even representation of male and female headliners at the event.
Melvin Benn was speaking via Zoom at the Electric Picnic press preview earlier today.
He was unable to attend in person as his flight was disrupted in the aftermath of the UK air traffic control glitch.
Billie Eilish will take to the stage this Friday, but she is the only female headliner at the three-day festival.
"Everything about Electric Picnic is to be looked forward to," Mr Benn said. "Billie Eilish has to be pretty high on everybody's list.
"We’d love to have a 50/50 split. We’d be delighted with it. Ultimately, we have to work within touring schedules. We are having to work with the artists that are available to us," he said.
Mr Benn also addressed the confusion over The Script’s logo initially being blurred out on the festival line-up.
It will be the first performance for The Script since the death of their co-founder and lead guitarist Mark Sheehan in April.
"The Script - they suffered loss," Mr Benn explained. "They wanted a late announcement. It wasn’t a gimmick. It was just about timing for them. It wasn’t about the creation of hype. It was around timing."
The Festival Director also explained the decision to not allow disposable vapes at Electric Picnic.
"They are very difficult to recycle, and most people put them in a general waste stream and not the correct one," Mr Benn said. "We have taken the decision to discourage people bringing them to the festival."
Next year for its 20th birthday, Electric Picnic will take place in the middle of August.
Mr Benn denied this was to avoid a clash with the four Coldplay gigs at Croke Park.
"It is not about that. It is something we have been considering for a while," Mr Benn explained. We want to see how it plays out, how the weather plays out and how the talent plays out."
Read more: Electric Picnic applying the finishing touches for the weekend ahead
