If you are reading this while crammed into a car or bus that is winding its way to Stradbally, Co Laois, then well done, you've made an excellent decision. And we hope to see you there. If you aren't going to Electric Picnic, then we'd like to apologise in advance for the fomo, and no, nothing you read in the next few pages is likely to make that any easier.
This year, The Ticket will once again roll into Electric Picnic, with full coverage on- and off-site. Our team of writers, including Una Mullally, Patrick Freyne, Peter Crawley, Aoife Valentine and Shilpa Ganatra will be onsite for the duration, to produce our special daily editions of The Ticket. On Saturday and Sunday this will be distributed exclusively onsite, with all the best EP news, reviews from the night before, and previews for the day ahead.
Our video team, Enda O'Dowd and Daniel O'Connor, will also be roaming the hills and woods of Stradbally, Co Laois, while our Live Blog, with Rachel Flaherty and Dean Ruxton, will be keeping you up-to-date on the latest traffic news, tweets, and hints and tips that you need for the last great party of the Irish summer.
This year, we've also expanded our offering for something a little special for EP punters. The Irish Times tent in Mindfield will be creating a cosy space to meet friends, catch a breath and recharge your batteries (phones not included). On Saturday, punters can avail of our in-house make up artist Lorcan Devaney from noon to 1:30pm (you may have seen his work on the likes of Le Galaxie, and, pictured above, with photographer Ruth Medjber). On Saturday the reviewing team will also be discussing The Critical Take and asking, is there any point in music journalism in the digital age (ahem)?
Joining that panel are Una Mullally, Niall Byrne and Patrick Freyne, from 2pm to 3pm, with Laurence Mackin attempting to herd that conversational bag of cats. On Sunday, we'll be creating a cosy atmosphere to set you up for a final blast through the weekend's final hurrah.
For all the festival news, see irishtimes.com/electricpicnic throughout the weekend, and check out our festival spread in Monday's newspaper, when you want to relive your entire weekend in all its blitzed, brilliant glory, while gently weeping at your desk.
