Search icon

Music

27th Aug 2018

Electric Picnic 2018: Lineup, stage times, how to get there and more

Eric Lalor

Electric Picnic 2018

The annual Stradbally extravaganza known as Electric Picnic is upon us.

All roads lead to Laois for Electric Picnic 2018, the latest edition of one of the most popular festivals in Europe. This year marks the 15th staging of Electric Picnic and, as ever, it promises to be another amazing weekend for the lucky ticket holders.

As usual, we have you covered with details on who is playing, when they’re playing and the best ways to get to and from the Stradbally estate on what should be another unforgettable weekend.

While the music is a key part of the weekend, Electric Picnic is not just about the music.

Comedy, culture, food, performing arts and a whole lot more besides; you name it, Electric Picnic 2018 has it.

Check out our detailed guide below for all you need to know.

How to Get There

On the Friday of the festival (31 August), an armada of buses from Marathon Coach Hire will depart from Dublin city centre heading for Stradbally. Buses will leave George’s Quay every half hour between the hours of 8am and 3pm on the day and then every hour between 3pm and 6pm.

There will also be buses on Saturday and Sunday at 10am, 11am and 12pm.

You can check the timetables and get full details on how to book a seat here.

If you’re travelling by train, the closest station is Portlaoise, approximately 12km away. Luckily, there is a shuttle bus service running to and from the Stradbally site and you can check out the timetable right here.

Line-up

Main stage

Electric Picnic 2018

It’s another bumper year in terms of headliners as Electric Picnic brings to you a plethora of superstars for your aural pleasure. Kendrick Lamar, The Prodigy, Massive Attack, The Kooks, St. Vincent, George Ezra, Walking On Cars and The Coronas are just some of the names that will feature over the weekend.

The Prodigy are one of the best live acts on the planet and they will literally have ‘Everybody in the Place’ bouncing around the Stradbally field as banger after banger is unleashed.

Kendrick Lamar is indisputably one of the biggest stars in the world right now. Another from the prolific Compton production line, he has earned his reputation as one of the leading lights in hip-hop around the world. 12 Grammys is no mean feat and the Stradbally massive will be keen to see what all the fuss is about.

Bristol legends Massive Attack, meanwhile, will make their first return to the Picnic since 2010. Hugely popular here in Ireland, their army of fans will be itching to see them live on the main stage if even to see if they ever get to finish that symphony.

Stage Times

The prime slots on the main stage have been allocated to Kendrick Lamar and Walking on Cars on Friday night and Massive Attack and NERD on Saturday, with Picture This and The Prodigy set to bring the festival to a close on Sunday.

You can see all the timeslots for the main stage and all other areas of the festival right here.

Comedy

Electric Picnic 2018

The comedy tent continues to be a hugely popular part of Electric Picnic and yet again, the lineup is really strong, consisting of some of the best Irish and international comedians.

Hosted over Saturday and Sunday by Karl Spain, the lineup features some of the biggest names in the business such as Russell Howard, Jason Byrne, David O’Doherty, Eleanor Tiernan, Milton Jones, David McSavage, Alison Spittle, Joanne McNally and loads more.

Comedy Tent stage times:

Saturday

  • 13:20 – 13:40: MC Karl Spain
  • 13:40 – 14:00: Gearoid Farrelly
  • 14:05 – 14:15: Breda Larkin
  • 14:20 – 14:40 Andrea Farrell
  • 14:45 – 15:00 Sean Finnerty
  • 15:05 – 15:20 Dalia Malek
  • 15:25 – 15:45 Kevin McGahern
  • 15:50 – 16:05 Julie J
  • 16:10 – 16:35 Fred Cooke
  • 16:40 – 17:00 Joanne McNally
  • 17:05 – 17:30 Eric Lalor
  • 17:35 – 18:00 Chris Kent
  • 18:05 – 18:30 Spencer Jones
  • 18:35 – 19:00 Jarlath Regan
  • 19:05 – 19:35 Milton Jones
  • 19:40 – 20:10 Jason Byrne
  • 20:15 – 21:00 Russell Howard

Sunday

  • 13:30 – 13:40 MC Karl Spain
  • 13:40 – 14.05 Paul Currie
  • 14:10 – 14:30 Abigoliah Schamaun
  • 14:35 – 14:55 John Colleary
  • 15:00 – 15:15 Dimitri Bakanov
  • 15:20 – 15:40 Steve Bennett
  • 15:45 – 16:00 Rory O’Hanlon
  • 16:05 – 16:25 Kevin Gildea
  • 16:30 – 16:50 Frank Sanazi
  • 16:55 – 17:15 Eleanor Tiernan
  • 17:20 – 17:45 Damian Clark
  • 17:50 – 18:10 Joe Rooney
  • 18:15 – 18:45 Abandoman
  • 18:50 – 19:15 Alison Spittle
  • 19:20 – 19:40 Danny O’Brien
  • 19:45 – 20:10 Dave McSavage
  • 20:15 – 21:00 David O’Doherty

Trailer Park

Electric Picnic 2018

In every festival, there is usually an obscure area or an absurd performance that reduces the most terse-lipped visitor to a hearty chuckle. At Electric Picnic 2018, Trailer Park is a whole hamlet devoted to just that.

There are several dozen creations stuffed into caravans, horseboxes, mobile homes, shipping containers, and repurposed vehicles. With a love of the ridiculous and fantastic, it is also a creative greenhouse for artists to present large-scale installations.

Full line-up details for this weird and wonderful area are available on the Electric Picnic website.

Body & Soul

Electric Picnic 2018

Body & Soul returns to its roots to celebrate the landmark 15th year as the creative centre of Electric Picnic 2018. It’s one of the most popular areas at the Picnic, so much so it has been given its own spin-off festival in June each year.

Gracing the Body & Soul Stage – famed as a platform for the brightest rising stars – will be electro-pop multi-instrumentalist Youngr, British-folk subverter Hak Baker, the bold and eccentric Ruby Empress, five-piece Indie-Disco band The Modern Strangers and many more.

Mindfield

Electric Picnic 2018

Electric Picnic 2018 has a totally unique spoken word arena, which this year sees a couple of big changes, with the addition of a new podcast stage called Ah, Hear! and a new writing and ideas stage called Manifesto.

There will be a talk on foreign affairs and Brexit, hosted by the Rubberbandits’ Blindboy Boatclub, who will also present live editions of his massively popular podcast, now listened to by a worldwide audience of 200,000 every week.

Ah, Hear! also features Soundings, hosted by Lisa Hannigan and Dylan Haskins, with special guests Marian Keyes and Ships; a host of podcasts curated by the Headstuff Podcast Network collective and a special An Irishman Abroad podcast with Jarlath Regan which will feature Russell Howard amongst others.

Also, for the GAA fans, the All-Ireland Football Final between Dublin and Tyrone will be shown live from the An Puball Gaeilge tent.

Other Voices

Electric Picnic 2018

Other Voices will return to the heart of Electric Picnic’s woodland area for three days of music. The Other Voices stage will be presented by Huw Stephens (BBC 1) and MayKay of Fight Like Apes and Le Galaxie fame.

Already confirmed this year are brilliant acts such as David Kitt, Colombia Mills, SOAK (pic above), David Keenan and Gwenno. This will be very special, so do your best to get along to some of the performances, which are always of the spellbinding, hairs-on-the-back-of-your-neck standard.

The Hazel Wood

Electric Picnic 2018

Now in its third year, The Hazel Wood has firmly established itself as the festival’s go-to spot for an eclectic mix of performance arts including theatre, dance, storytelling, spoken word and music.

Set in a secluded woodland haven amongst a circle of traditional horse-drawn caravans, you can witness performances from the likes of The Corps Ensemble, The Ramparts, renowned storyteller Eddie Lenihan with Glimpses of the Otherworld and many more.

Camping

There usual variety of camping areas on site will be in situ again this year, from boutique camping to the general campsite area and, of course, the family campsite area. All tickets are sold out at this stage so everyone knows where they are allocated.

Just be aware that the following items are banned from all campsites:

  • Gas canisters (any size) [this includes nitrous oxide, or similar, capsules]
  • Petrol burner
  • Any form of aerosol 250ml

It’s a brilliant weekend, but be safe and ensure to stay as hydrated as possible. There are free drinking water points throughout the campsites and arena and you can find these next to the toilet blocks.

For more information, check out the Electric Picnic website.