THE ORGANISERS of Electric Picnic say they expect their “pretty flawless” record of low public order and crime incidents will continue this year.
Headline acts will include The Cure, The Killers and Sigur Rós. The event also features literature, comedy, gastronomy and theatre.
At a Garda press conference in advance of the three-day festival, which takes place in Stradbally, Co Laois, at the end of this month, promoter John Reynolds said the safety, enjoyment and loyalty of the 30,000 attendees annually is not taken for granted.
“We have worked very long and very well with gardaí here on the traffic-management and every other system and operation within the festival, and it is testament to the gardaí that we have had a pretty flawless record on site. That’s something we don’t take for granted and it’s something we work very hard to do.”
With 968 security staff and 125 gardaí on duty for the festival, Mr Reynolds was keen to emphasise there is a different dynamic between Electric Picnic and one-stage concerts such as the Swedish House Mafia show in the Phoenix Park this summer, where nine people were stabbed amid widespread scenes of drunkenness.
“You’re not dealing like-with-like,” he said, pointing out that Electric Picnic is family-oriented and a lot of children attend. The audience in general is “older and more respectful”, he said.
Mr Reynolds said he did not expect the crowd who would usually attend Oxegen – which is not being held this year – to opt for Electric Picnic instead. He said that audience of 18-21-year-olds had been “well-served” with events in Ireland and abroad this summer. A larger number of Irish young people than usual attended the Benicassim festival in Spain and will attend the Reading festival near London this weekend.
Supt Yvonne Lundon from Portlaoise Garda station said a “robust” policing plan is in place, but emphasised Electric Picnic is a well-run, family-oriented festival. “We don’t want to give the message that this is a drug-abusive event,” she said, citing the relatively low number of people charged with drug offences at the festival in previous years.