ELECTRIC PICNIC HAS announced that it will reveal the line-up for this year’s festival on Friday after speculation about whether the event would be going ahead.

The festival’s official social media account confirmed this afternoon: “Your 2024 Electric Picnic line-up drops this Friday 26th April.”

The confirmation follows a longer than usual wait for the line-up release despite an earlier date for the festival this year, which has raised some concerns about how the event might impact local farmers.

Your 2024 Electric Picnic line-up drops THIS FRIDAY 26th April 🎆🎶 #EP24 #ElectricPicnic pic.twitter.com/PFXQNBxruq

— Electric Picnic (@EPfestival) April 22, 2024

Electric Picnic is traditionally held on the first weekend of September but organisers announced last year that they had decided to move the festival forward to August for 2024.

The sold-out dates for this year are Friday 16 August to Sunday 18 August.

Despite the festival happening earlier than previous years, the announcement of the line-up – which is usually made around March – appeared to be delayed, which raised speculation among some ticket-holders about whether the festival was still going ahead as normal.

Some farmers and local representatives had expressed dismay about the festival happening two weeks earlier than usual this year as it means it will coincide with harvesting. 

The Irish Farmers’ Association called for the dates to be revisited, saying that it would not be realistic to expect farmers to be able to harvest and move grain while 70,000 people were attending the festival in Stradbally, Co Laois.

“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,” said John Fitzpatrick, IFA County Chair for Laois.

He said it would cause “huge problems for local farmers”.

Councillor Paschal McEvoy, a Fianna Fáil councillor in Laois, also criticised the change of date, saying it brought the festival to a time when the farming community would be at its busiest.

Farmers faced a difficult sowing season this spring due to the heavy rainfall throughout the month of March and parts of April.

Rainfall was above average in most parts of Ireland in March, according to Met Éireann.