Picnic Sells Out In Record Time

That’s a record, easily beating last year’s advance sellout, which came with four weeks to go. Both results are even more remarkable considering that in the last two years the capacity of the Stradbally Estate festival has increased from 35,000 to 41,000. In May 2014 Festival Republic bought out the 29 percent stake of Electric Picnic owned by John Reynolds, the Irish promoter who founded the event in 2004.

The 2013 festival, the last staged under dual ownership, had attracted 31,000. In 2009 FR paid euro 4.2 million (then $5.7 million) for 71 percent of Electric Picnic, at a time when it was in financial trouble and being chased by royalty collection agencies for outstanding charges amounting to euro 432,741 ($643,247). The acts helping Electric Picnic (Sept. 4-6) sell out in record time include Blur, Florence & The Machine, Sam Smith, Underworld, Grace Jones, and Interpol.