My friend Ms. L and her boyfriend have been to Electric Picnic for the last few years and of course she had her tickets ready for this year’s festival for months. During our catch up in Klaw, while chatting about EP we decided to go on a mission: to enter all the competitions and win Electric Picnic tickets to get Mr. FFID and I there. Challenge accepted! We spent about two weeks entering competitions online and on social media like crazy... not only Ms L. and I, but our partners too. It’s funny when two Frenchies want something so bad and even funnier when they manage to win not just two but four tickets (two separate competitions for two tickets each) all down to our determination (and maybe just a little bit of luck). Don’t go thinking it’s because I’m a blogger that I won. Ms. L and Mr. FFID both won tickets under their real names… I was delighted as not only could we go to EP but my friend could sell the tickets she originally bought and go for free too.
I packed my wine (decanted in 2L plastic bottle) and my picnic of Irish artisan products as well as my baby wipes and off we went on Friday afternoon. I was very excited and I bought a disposable camera to take pics, Ms. L laughed at me when I said on the car ‘J’en ai marre du digital’ (I’m fed up with digital pics) as I may have sounded like a bit of a bloody hipster. But yes it’s true, I wanted to enjoy taking pictures of Mr. FFID and my friends rather than every single camper van or plate of food that I saw. I actually forgot the cable for charging my phone so I ended up with no phone for 3 days. Oh boy, it was pure bliss! I didn’t Instagram at all, I occasionally borrowed Mr. FFID’s phone but overall I was disconnected.
As a result I actually have very few digital pics of the festival to share here but a head full of lovely memories.
So, what were my highlights of this year's Electric Picnic?
- Des Bishop at the Comedy tent, I love him for his insider/outsider perspective on Ireland and Irish people. Hilarious!
- Picking blackberries outside the festival while walking to Stradbally to get booze, nothing like a bit of foraging at a festival
- Lisa Hannigan at the Literary tent, she’s my absolute favourite singer and I even got to ask to take a picture with her. I was so intimidated and completely lost my words, but it was one of the best moments ever.
- Our little picnics at the tent, Irish cheese, Irish charcuterie and Irish craft beer, we brought cans of my favourite summer beer The Equinox by Metalman
- Florence and The Machine on the main stage, I wasn’t expecting much but Florence Welsh is one of the most graceful ladies ever. Her voice is amazing and I loved her energy and style.
- Eating a corn dog before going to
- Car-a-vin, the wine bar in the trailer park was my go to for drinks as they had wine, and quite decent wine at that.
- Glen Hansard at the Other Voices' stage: I was delighted with this ‘surprise’ gig as Glen is my second favourite Irish man. I was standing just in front and he was incredible as always.
- The food from Kinara’s Kitchen, the queues were massive but I didn’t bother trying anywhere else for dinner.
- Natasha’s Living Food: I’m not usually one for health food but I preferred to drink their mayan hot shot and the Synerchi Kombucha than the crappy beer they sold at the bar tent.
The only thing I really disliked at the festival was the lack of good drinks. Electric Picnic is heavily sponsored by large alcohol companies and there was not a sign of Irish craft beer, only the mass produced stuff which is both super sweet and expensive. It's a real shame for a festival that is so strong on good food. Next year I'll bring a bigger supply of craft beer!
I also learnt that not staying in the VIP campsite means no fecking sleep and no shower at all but hey, there's nothing you can do about that and it was totally worth it!
