Madam, – Having thought the Electric Picnic was an all-inclusive, well-organised event, I was very disappointed at the difficulties we encountered while attending the festival this year. I was with my brother who is in a wheelchair as he has severe MS.
A wheelchair platform was provided, but in order to reach it we had to cross the entire field which was very muddy in spots. It took three of us to carry the chair through a lot of the mud. What frustrated me most was the fact that there was a road running right up to where the platform was, and it would have been possible to drive on it and drop off my brother right beside the platform.
Instead however, we struggled through mud in darkness and cold weather on Friday night for over 90 minutes before reaching the car park provided.
I contacted the organisers throughout the weekend and got no help whatsoever, even though Stradbally police tried their best to help. I have since contacted the organisers in writing and by phone and was told the matter would be raised at a debriefing, but I have still got no explanation for what happened. I cannot believe that a festival that prides itself on being family-friendly, green and all things good was so abysmal when it came to disabled access. – Yours, etc,