Electric Picnic boss Melvin Benn has confirmed the festival will return again next year - but he won’t be increasing its capacity.
He said the event was a success despite the wind and rain over the weekend which failed to dampen the 70,000 music revellers’ spirits. And as Arctic Monkeys brought the curtain down on the weekend, Melvin confirmed it will return next year.
He said: “I am putting this on record – that I’m certain Covid is not going to come back and disrupt us again. We’ll be back next year.”
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While this year’s capacity went from 55,000 to 70,000 revellers, asked if he would consider increasing it again for next year’s event, Benn said: “No not in 2023.
“Chatting to people in Stradbally, they’re like it is so important to be back.” He added next year’s event will go “full digital” next year for the first time.
Melvin added: “There won’t be the ability to queue at a Ticketmaster outlet. It closed all their retail outlets so for the first time we’re fully digital..”
But he said there isn’t much he wants to change, he is hoping to go even more greener by powering the main stage off the festival’s own electricity. Melvin added: “I think we’re already pretty green. All our cups and everything, you know all the plastic bottles we sell are recycled. All the cups can be reused and recycled.
“One of the things I’m keen to do is bring mains electricity to the site. What that will allow me to do is power the main stage from off the grid, but I can power it from off the grid from electricity from renewables.” This year’s Electric Picnic, returning after three years due to Covid, saw a major all-Irish line-up.
But when asked if it was important for Irish acts to headline Electric Picnic, Melvin said: “I’m an internationalist. It’s important to have great headliners and from what country they are from, for me it doesn’t matter that much.
“If they are from Ireland and make it more through the ranks, it makes it more special.” As he winds up for another year, Melvin described the last three days as “absolutely glorious”.
He added: “There haven’t been any lows. You might say the rain is a bit of a low but it’s not really. Everybody has just sort of gone through it without any pressure.
“I think Mindfield really works in the new location. I’d say Mind and Body is coming of age and it will grow even more. Freetown I think is extraordinary and I’m certainly looking to make that bigger and better. A little bit bigger, hard to make it any better.
“FishTown that move has been fantastic. The new location just works. I think the bigger arena for the main stage, I think everybody has enjoyed that and got a phenomenal view of all the acts that played really.
"So overall, it is hard to believe that it was three years ago that we sat here but it was. You learn from it and I hope we’re never in a position like that again.”
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