Organisers of the Electric Picnic say they are confident of selling all 32,500 tickets "well in advance" of the three-day music festival.
Arcade Fire, Pulp, the Chemical Brothers and Interpol are among the first tranche of bands announced for the festival, which takes place at Stradbally, Co Laois from September 2nd to 4th.
"This is a very strong line-up," said festival musical director Declan Forde. "We're very pleased to have enticed back a number of bands we had been trying to get back for a few years now.
"Arcade Fire said when they played the Picnic in 2005 it was a landmark event for them. They are very excited about coming back."
The Quebecois band have just won the best album of the year Grammy and the Best International Album Brit award for their third studio album The Suburbs.
Headlining on Saturday night will be the British electronica duo the Chemical Brothers with 1990s Sheffield-born indie darlings Pulp closing proceedings on Sunday night.
Other attractions will be American post-punk Interpol, Mercury award-winner PJ Harvey, Jamaican ska-reggae group Toots and the Maytals, as well as 1980s British reggae outfit Big Audio Dynamite, singer Sinead O'Connor and psychedelic rock band Death in Vegas.
Lesser known acts, but with strong followings, include Beirut, Mogwai, Lykke Li, Mid Lake and Licah P Hinson.
Among the Irish acts with increasing fan-bases playing the festival are RSAG, Adebisi Shank, O Emperor, the Cast of Cheers and The Danger Is.
"We've announced 44 names today and will announce more in the coming months as we confirm bands. Of course the Picnic is not just about music. What marks it out is the quality of the whole event, the diversity of experiences, the aesthetic environment, the art, the food, the whole experience," Mr Forde said.
The festival also features a comedy tent, theatre, a Spoken Word area with poetry, debate and discussion, children's entertainment , small venues such as the Salty Dog Saloon, a variety of food stalls and farmers' market.
Weekend tickets are priced at €240 with one-day tickets for the Sunday available for €99.50. Family camping tickets for two adults and children cost €480.
Those planning to bring a campervan face a €60 fee to bring the vehicle into the festival site.
"The days of selling out a festival months in advance are probably gone, but we are confident with this very strong line-up of selling out well in advance. It will be a bigger crowd than last year," he added.
Just over 90 per cent of tickets were sold last year.
A page on the Electric Picnic website with the full line-up for this year’s festival was leaked onto the internet last night. The link was live for several hours before being taken down.
