Electric Picnic 2025: Come for Chappell Roan and Kneecap, stay for Glitterball campsite
Eva Osborne
I've made the trek down to Stradbally, Co Laois, for Electric Picnic the last three years.
Festivalgoers were extremely lucky with the weather in 2023 and 2024, with sunny and warm conditions dominating from Friday through to Sunday.
I didn't experience the washout in 2022, but I had heard tales from my friends about it, who acted like surviving that weekend was the single most challenging thing they've ever experienced.
So, when I heard that the weather was to be windy, rainy, and cooler this year, I was questioning selling my ticket.
As if sleeping on the floor for four nights isn't hard enough without worrying your tent will experience a Wizard of Oz-like relocation due to hurricane-esque winds.
But the whole conversation around EP weather was sensationalised.
The Friday was gorgeous. It was mostly sunny and warm, and complemented the headliners of the day - Chappell Roan and Hozier - the former of which was the highlight of my weekend.
She lit up the Main Stage with hits like Good Luck, Babe!, Pink Pony Club, and The Subway, and told the crowd that Ireland had shown up for her in ways that no other country had.
Another major high point of the weekend was Kneecap's performance.
Although the rap trio weren't headliners, they still performed on the Main Stage. Their popularity warranted it.
They had the crowd rapping as Gaeilge, they joked about Mo Chara's recent court troubles, and they spoke on Irish solidarity with Palestine.
They drew in a huge crowd, the likes of which I haven't seen except for The Wolfe Tones on the Main Stage last year.
A sea of Irish balaclavas, GAA jerseys, and Irish and Palestinain flags greeted the trio as they performed hits like Guilty Conscience, Get Your Brits Out, and Sick In The Head.
Móglaí Bap acknowledged the group's insane surge in popularity, pointing out that their first performance at Electric Picnic only drew in 60 people, while they now can fill the Main Arena.
The group will only get bigger from here, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were announced as a headliner for 2026.
New campsites reign victorious
Electric Picnic introduced new campsites this year, some which had to be pre-booked.
One of these was Glitterball, which I stayed in with about 20 friends, a couple of gazebos, and some squashed pains au chocolat from Lidl.
The new campsites were a huge win for the festival in my opinion.
Even with early-entry passes for the Thursday evening, festivalgoers would be doing well to find a spot in one of the main campsites without any spare small gaps being taken up by a stranger and their pop-up tent.
Pre-booked spots gave me peace of mind, and ensured that all my friends could camp together and keep an eye on eachother.
As well as this, Glitterball offered free showers, a Get Ready With Me (GWRM) marquee with hair straighteners and blow dryers, and drag performers giving out free drinks during the day (while you tried to pull yourself together from the night before).
The group of women responsible for giving out and checking Glitterball wristbands could not have been kinder, and their smiles and cheer as we rolled into the campsite on Thursday night set the tone for the weekend.
I cannot recommend Glitterball enough, and I will be staying in the same spot next year and praying that I never end up at the very back of Samuel Beckett, surrounded by the one-man tents of 18 and 19-year-olds blaring techno music, ever again.
Mass exodus on Sunday
Something I've never experienced before was the sheer amount of people deciding to cut their Electric Picnic 2025 experience short by leaving on the Sunday.
Maybe it was a combination of the drizzly weather and Sunday being the weakest day of headliners (in my humble opinion), but festivalgoers were leaving in their droves.
I didn't drink on the Sunday so that I coud drive home after Kings of Leon, the final headliner of the weekend, and it was the best decision I've ever made.
I had already spent my three nights sleeping on the ground, as I came down with an early-entry pass on the Thursday, so getting to properly shower and sleep in my own bed on Sunday night was amazing.
I didn't expect so many people to have the same idea as me though, and the traffic was quite bad when I was leaving just after midnight.
It took two hours to drive back to Dublin from the glamourous fields of Stradbally, but it was worth it for the comfort of my own bed.
The weather was definitely a factor in my decision to head home early, as it rained for most of the day Sunday, and I was drenched while trying to watch The Kooks in the packed Electric Arena.
Many people left before the Sunday headliners though, opting to miss out on Becky Hill and Kings of Leon to be home before dark on Sunday evening.
I think festival organisers should take the hint and focus on making each day of headliners equally as strong.
I know they can't control the weather, but I don't think near as many people would have left early on the Sunday if Chappell Roan and Hozier were the acts they'd be missing.
In summary
Overall, Electric Picnic 2025 was good. It will take more than a few showers and some wind to prevent the hordes of 20-somethings from having a good time.
The new campsites and the pre-booking option was a huge success, and I think rolling it out for every campsite would be a good move.
It would ensure there'd be less overcrowding, and would put the minds of those who come down on the Friday morning at ease.
The standard of headliners should be maintained, and ideally improved, for next year to prevent another mass exodus on Sunday.
As always, the extra gems the festival offers provided through the scattered wind and rain.
Heineken House was successful yet again, as was Salty Dog and Croí. One of the highlights of the weekend is always wandering around and seeing where you end up!
Until next year, Electric Picnic over and out.
