Electric Picnic will take place earlier than usual in 2024, with next year’s festival to take place from August 16-18th in Co. Laois.
The new date will mark a significant change for the festival, on what will be the 20th anniversary of it first being hosted in Stradbally.
However not everyone is happy over the date change next year. Laois farmers say there needs to be more discussion about moving the festival two weeks earlier.
The IFA branch in the county says because it’s in the middle of the harvest season, it means there will be a lot of farm machinery on the roads.
It adds it’s not realistic to move that amount of grain with 70,000 people piling into Stradbally next August.
IFA County Chair John Fitzpatrick said the dates for the 2024 Electric Picnic need to be revisited.
“The Electric Picnic has become a huge event and much hard work has gone in over the years to retain the support of the local community. This changing of the dates came out of the blue and it is going to cause huge problems for local farmers,” he said.
“The dates announced for 2024 – August 16th-18th – are right in the middle of harvest season. To expect that the harvest and the movement of grain can take place with 70,000 people piling into a small rural town is not realistic,” he said.
“It’s a time where there will be lots farm machinery on the roads at the busiest time of the year in one of the busiest tillage areas in the country,” he said. “There needs to be serious dialogue to resolve this issue and everything must be on the table,“ he said
