Music | RobMoro guide to Electric Picnic 2013

If your one of the lucky 35.000 people making your way to Stradbally Estate this weekend, then your sure to be in for a treat. This years Electric Picnic celebrates the 10th time the festival has taken place and it’s one of the biggest yet.

There is free cake for those on the way in, which you can redeem during the festival to celebrate the 10th event. For those passing by the inflatable church at the weekend, you can also win passes to the next 10 Electric Picnics, which were confirmed by promoter Melvin Benn during the week.

As usual at Electric Picnic, there is always more than just music at the festival. There is Trenchdown, Salty Dog, Casa Bacardi, Spoken Word and much more to see. So without further a do, here is a few Electric Picnic bits of advice and tips, from getting around the site, to those all important timetables and wooded areas.

Getting to Electric Picnic can be done by car, bus and train. There is free parking in the various car parks around the venue. If your going by train, then Portlaoise train station is your nearest one. There is a number of private buses to Electric Picnic, with Marathon Travel operating one from Custom House Quay in Dublin.

unfortunately for those who didn’t know if they were off work until the weekend before the festival, tickets are all sold out. But you can listen into RTE 2fm and stations around the country to hear updates. RTE 2fm will be uploading videos over the course of the weekend also. If your an Instagram user, then you can follow the Official Electric Picnic page @EPfestival for an up to date visual experience.

Now to the stages and areas section of the festival. Casa Bacardi are back this year, along with some stellar DJ sets in store from Friendly Fires and Aeroplane. Those skillful bartenders will also be mixing it up with a range of Bacardi inspired drinks.

Pamper Palace is back where the ladies can receive some soothing treatment for any aches that may occur over the weekend. Appointments area advised, but a walk-in service is available.
The Pamper Palace also have a team of super creative makeup artists providing make up, lashes, face paint, bindis, diamantes, sparkles, and glitter.

The Red Bull Music Academy is also back after a 7 year hiatus. Featuring a range of Red Bull Academy graduates and artists of the Electronic genre.

it wouldn’t be Electric Picnic without the Salty Dog stage in the woodlands area. The shipwreck inspired stage will sail into Stradbally once again to showcase some of the finest acts around. Performing here over the weekend will be Cathy Davey, Bronagh Gallagher, The Hot Sprockets and many more.

The Jamaican themed Trenchdown area is also back this year, while also adopting a ‘One Love’ policy. A timetable of events in the Trenchdown area are available from their Facebook page.

Vodafone are continuing their presence at Irish festivals this year with the Vodafone Recharge Tent operating in the main arena. The tent will also offer an Instaprint service, where you snap a photo via your Instagram app, add #FollowTheFeeling and #VodafoneCentreStage tags to the caption, then make your way to the tent and pick up your funky festival-framed polaroid from the Instaprint wall at the Vodafone Recharge Tent. The tent will open early from 11am on Saturday and Sunday to allow Vodafone customers to get their phones charged before everyone else. Do be aware that the tent closes at 9pm though.

The Global Green area also returns this year, with a mixture of local crafts and featuring food from producers under the Totally Tipperary label. As ever, there will be a live stage with acts galore entertaining you while you eat. A list of events at Global Green are available here.

The Comedy and Spoken Word areas are at Electric Picnic this year, with a cracking line up in both areas. A full breakdown of events is available here.

Body & Soul will also be at Electric Picnic, the esteemed stage and area will have plenty of events to keep you occupied, with one of Ireland’s hottest acts Le Galaxie taking the area by storm on Sunday night.

The main focus is of course the acts playing across the Main Stage and Cosby Stage over the weekend too. As Arctic Monkeys, Bjork, Fatboy Slim, Wu-Tang Clan, Two Door Cinema Club and Ellie Goulding and an almost endless list of acts taking part this weekend.

Festival Checklist

• Entry Ticket
• Money / Cash Card
• Clothing for all seasons
• Travel Ticket Home
• Camera (pocket sized for personal use only)
• Mobile Phone
• Sun Cream and a Hat
• Tissues and Wet Wipes
• Strong shoes/Wellies
• Any medications that you need

Acts to see:

Main Stage:

Disclosure (One of the Summer’s best albums)

The 1975 (They’ve just released their debut album)

Ellie Goulding (Since her visits to Ireland are rare, great act when on form)

Kodaline (It’s been a packed Summer for the Dublin boys, a homecoming show is sure to be sweet)

Two Door Cinema Club (Just released a new single, bound to catch a glimpse of new album material at this set)

Little Green Cars (Their album Absolute Zero has taken off, excellent live act too)

John Grant (Rave reviews of his live shows back at the Kilkenny Rhythm and Roots Festival in May)

Ryan Sheridan (New material on the way, back home for a show since taking Germany by storm)

Nina Nesbitt (The Scottish lass is on her first visit to Ireland in while, she may even appear on stage with Kodaline for a redition of their latest single Brand New Day)

Funeral Suits (It has been a busy year for the Irish rockers, their song All Those Friendly People features in the Vodafone Centre Stage ad too)

Cosby Stage:

Jagwar Ma (First time back in Ireland since supporting The XX in The O2 in June)

Chvrches (First time the Scottish Electro-Pop trio are playing in Ireland since supporting Passion Pit last November in The Olympia)

Body & Soul:

Le Galaxie (Their live show is a must see)

VANN MUSIC (Destined for bigger things, their single Life in Real Time is a beaut)

Swords (Their single All The Boys has been playlisted on Phantom and Today FM’s Paul Mcloone show. Their debut album sold out its first few rounds of copies in Tower Records too)

Comedy:

Dylan Moran (Back on the comedy scene this Summer)

Foil, Arms & Hog (These guys are everywhere, TV ads, YouTube you name it)

Fred Cooke (Just mad in general, the funny kind though)

Salty Dog:

Cathy Davey (Always a good show when Cathy Davey is involved)

The Hot Sprockets (Their single Soul Brother is reason enough to see them live)

Trailer Park:

Lisa Hannigan (Another performer worth seeing live at least once)

Jerry Fish (The man knows how to entertain, a natural)

Casa Bacardi:

Friendly Fires DJ Set (If only it was more than a DJ Set, still cracking live)