Search
22 Oct 2025
Search
22 Oct 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Electric Picnic owner Melvin Benn said he had some concerns meeting with local farmers after it was announced last year that the 2024 festival would take place earlier than usual.
Some 75,000 festival goers are making their way to Stradbally in county Laois this Friday, August 16, for this year's Electric Picnic weekend, which is taking place two weeks earlier than its usual end-of-summer slot.
According to organisers, the one-off move was part of a plan to secure particular big name headliners, but it was met with backlash from local farmers.
Concerns were raised that the new dates would interfere with the harvest in the areas surrounding the festival site and Stradbally town.
Speaking to RTÉ, Mr Benn said he also had concerns when meeting with farmers to discuss the issue, but "fortunately they didn't kill me."
"I thought it would be an interesting way to end my life actually," he joked.
"But we had a great chat, and we worked what we call a harvest route out, and blow me down but there's no blinking harvest this weekend anyway, so everyone's happy."
Electric Picnic 2024 runs from Friday August 16 to Sunday August 18.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
