ELECTRIC PICNIC’S BOSS Melvin Benn has urged festival-goers not to take ketamine this weekend amid warnings over the growing popularity of the drug in Ireland.

Speaking to reporters at Stradbally on Tuesday, Benn, who serves as managing director of Festival Republic and the main director overseeing Electric Picnic, was asked about concerns around ketamine use ahead of the festival.

“Don’t take it,” Benn said.

“I mean, it’s made for horses, for heaven’s sake. It’s the most nonsense thing in the world to take.

“I would genuinely say illegal drugs are illegal for a specific purpose, and that is because they’re potentially dangerous.

“So my message is not to take drugs, and my message is to get a decent pint of Guinness down here.”

Ketamine is an anaesthetic which has legitimate uses in both human and veterinary medicine, but is also used recreationally for its dissociative and hallucinogenic effects.

Concerns have been raised about its growing recreational use in Ireland, particularly among younger people.

Ahead of Electric Picnic, addiction experts have also warned of a rise in people seeking treatment for ketamine use and of the particular risks associated with taking the drug in a festival environment.

Electric Picnic will again host the HSE’s harm-reduction service, where festival-goers can receive information about drugs and anonymously surrender substances for testing.

Benn said festivals had to remain “ever vigilant” about drug use.

“Drugs are just part and parcel of society now,” Benn said.

Melvin Benn picutred with Florence Road on the main stage at Electric Picnic. The Journal The Journal

“We have a lot of people gathered in the same place, and if we can work with the HSE to get over key messaging about drugs, which is what we try to do, whether it’s key messaging about drugs here at the Picnic or elsewhere, it’s all part and parcel of society now.”

Benn said his hope was that people would not take illegal drugs, but added that those who chose to do so should “do so responsibly”.

Teen ban ‘not something I’ve even considered changing’

Benn also ruled out any reversal of Electric Picnic’s controversial policy preventing teenagers aged between 13 and 17 from attending the festival.

Children aged 12 and under can attend when accompanied by a parent or guardian, but those aged between 13 and 17 are not permitted entry.

Asked by The Journal whether he would ever consider lifting the restriction, Benn said: “No, not at EP.”

“I think we’re really happy with the 18-year-old kick-off, actually, and, you know, it’s how we started at the Picnic as an 18s and over.

“We’re just very happy with it. And I think it’s just not something that I’ve even considered changing.”

Benn was similarly unmoved by calls for Electric Picnic to announce its line-up before tickets for the festival go on sale.

Tickets for the 2027 festival are due to go on sale next Tuesday, just two days after this year’s event finishes.

Asked whether he would consider returning to announcing the line-up before tickets are sold, Benn replied: “No, no, we’re very happy with the process that we have.”

If you were hoping to find out the line-up for Electric Picnic 2027 before tickets go on sale next week, that won’t be the case.

Festival organiser Melvin Benn has said the line-up is “in good shape”, he added that it’s “too early” to confirm who will be on the bill. pic.twitter.com/Bh7flfRYHi

— TheJournal.ie (@thejournal_ie) August 25, 2026

“The tickets are going on sale on Tuesday next week, and it would be too early for us to have a line-up, even if we wanted to.

Benn added that he was not currently looking at increasing Electric Picnic’s 80,000-person capacity and expected the festival to remain at its long-standing Stradbally home.

“I certainly see our home staying here in Stradbally, here in Laois, no question about that,” he said.

“I’m not looking at a bigger capacity at the moment, to be honest. I think we’re at a great capacity.”

What to bring? ‘Hope’

On less contentious matters, Benn offered some unconventional advice for anyone still packing for the weekend.

Asked what he considered the essential item to bring to Electric Picnic, he had a one-word answer: “Hope.”

“Just hope. Hope for good weather, hope for the best time of their lives.

“I think we can guarantee the best time of their lives. We can’t guarantee the weather.”

And those still deciding between camping and glamping were offered a third option.

“I think you can go the whole hog and do it raw and just sleep on the floor. No tent, no nothing,” Benn joked.

He admitted that was how he attended his own first festival when he was younger.

“I wasn’t bright enough to realise I needed one.”