Electric Picnic - Festival Report
Well it was every bit as good as I thought it'd be - in fact, it was better. We left Friday afternoon driving in convoy - I was driving behind the campervan. All went well and within an hour, we reached the outskirts of Stradbally and hit the inevitable traffic jam.
No worries, all was good. The partying had already started on the campervan. Traffic was moving so slowly, that people were popping back and forth to say hi and have a chat. The cars moved in fits and starts and on one memorable occassion I had one and a half passengers - the other half of her was dangling out the window (moving at about 5mph, she could've walked it faster)
Next thing we had to split up - cars one way, vans another. I went ahead, parked and waited....and waited....and waited. There was a terrible delay - the field for the vans was so muddy they had to be towed in. Finally they arrived. We set ourselves up, had a few drinks and went into the main arena.
Wow! The first thing I saw was a giant stage with acrobats, some kind of fire shooting machines and a DJ at the very top of a tower. It was incredible. Cue dancing, festivities and wandering around the huge venue.
Lots of different sections, different music, a 'Body & Soul' section, an Arts and Crafts area, a cottage made out of Peat Bog playing trad music. People in costumes, people covered in mud (mud was a bit of a feature), The Silent Disco - absolutely hilarious. I even nipped into the cinema tent for a gander. The carnival was avoided that night - mud pit is an understatement. I got seperated from my pals, but so much is happening, you really don't mind...luckily, I found one of them and we stuck together for the rest of the (late) night. After a few hours, back to the campsite for a last few drinks, a few laughs and some much needed sleep.
Saturday dawned dry luckily. All up early and raring to go. Into the venue much earlier. Met up with a lot of people, mostly by accident :) A visit to the Bacardi Tent for some truly delicious Mojitos. Ate some great food, chatted to total strangers about random nothingness and all in all had great fun. Brief break back to the campsite before heading back in for the evening. Madness played the main stage and were FANTASTIC! Had an absolute ball. Another late one rounded off by yet more drinks at the campsite :)
Sunday it rained, and rained and then rained some more. Having partied for about 48hours at this point, I decided to call it a day. Packed up and headed home - with my car full of other people who were done. No traffic, home in an hour and oh the shower was bliss!
Still a little tired, but already looking forward to next years Electric Picnic!!!
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