Farmers in Co. Laois have voiced their opposition to new dates for Electric Picnic as they say it will impact their 2024 harvest.
For the past 19 years, the three-day music and arts festival has been held on a site in Stradbally in early September.
However, the organisers of the festival recently announced that next year’s event will be held from August 16-18, two weeks earlier than its usual September slot.
Electric Picnic
The move came as a shock to local tillage farmers who say they were not consulted in advance of the announcement being made and tickets going on sale.
Bobby Miller, who farms in Stradbally, told Agriland that local farmers have always supported the music festival which is expected to attract up to 70,000 people to the area when this year’s event begins on Friday (September 1).
He said that bringing the 2024 festival forward by a fortnight will clash with “prime harvest time”.
Miller said that local tillage farmers are concerned about not being able to harvest their crops or move large agricultural machinery safely on the roads.
He added that the grain intake store in the village, which takes in the majority of malting barley in the area for Boortmalt, would be very busy around the harvest time.
Farmers
Paul Cushen, who farms land around Stradbally and lives on the main street of the village, told Agriland that moving Electric Picnic forward in the calendar will be “a logistic nightmare” for farmers.
“Nobody heard anything about it until last Tuesday morning,” he said.
“We like the picnic for the area, it’s good for the area. But it is an inconvenience, even at the time of the year that it’s at, but we’re putting up with it. We just cannot put up with it in the middle of our harvest.
“We’re spending money and time all year growing our crops for the most important time of the year,” Cushen said.
Harvest
The farmer said that the main street of Stradbally would be “flat out with loads of grain every day of the harvest“.
“I have a field which is going to be in spring barley next year, it’s right on the edge of Stradbally. The festival traffic coming in the road is so slow, they all get out and you see lads urinating.
“What’s the chances of some guy getting out and throwing a cigarette butt and my field of barley going up?
“And that’s not just a possibility on that road because this area is a huge malting barley growing area and there’s going to be fields of barley everywhere.
“It’s pure craziness, that’s what it is,” Cushen said.
The farmers are planning to raise their concerns with local gardaí and county councillors in the hope of moving the festival back.
“I’m hoping that when sense prevails, they realise it’s just not possible to happen.
“We’ve been putting up with the picnic for all the years and we don’t mind the inconvenience for the few days. But this is just the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” Cushen said.
Agriland has contacted Electric Picnic for comment.