Pamper units, sound baths, fitness classes: How the Irish festival has changed over the years

With luxury, wellness, and pampering now a fixture at Electric Picnic, are the old ways of festival culture dead and gone? And, if so, is that necessarily a bad thing?

Fitness, meditation, energy rebalancing and somatic movement is now on level pegging with sex, drugs and rock’n’roll at Irish festivals

Audiences at Electric Picnic, the music and arts festival located in Laois annually, are accustomed to unpredictable goings on, but offerings in recent years may have caught even veteran attendees off guard.

Cacao ceremonies, reflexology, Brazilian dance classes, tarot reading, slam poetry, live theatre, An Céilí Mór, cabaret, cocktail-making classes, and meditation all fit snugly on the Stradbally site, where festival attendees partake in a changed music festival experience, one which seemingly has placed fitness, meditation, energy rebalancing and somatic movement on level pegging with sex, drugs and rock’n’roll.

Electric Picnic, which has been running in the Irish midlands since 2004, has seen a great deal of change in its two decades.

The 2004 iteration was a one-day event, costing €60, where roughly 5,000 were in attendance and arguably the most luxurious element of the entire 12 hours was one bottle of champagne in the green room.

This week, 70,000 punters will attend the now-600-acre site, for three days and nights of utter variety. Weekend camping tickets this year cost €290, but that is simply a starting point for some attendees, whose Stradbally experience is set to be bookended by luxurious accommodation, carefully curated food experiences, pamper units, and plunge pools.

An aerial view of the huge crowd for the Wolfe Tones at Electric Picnic last year. Picture: Electric Picnic

“There’s definitely a bigger draw for people to pay for added comforts at festivals,” Craig Hughes, co-founder of Night and Day festival, in Roscommon, shares.

“In the three years we’ve been running, we’ve added more glamping tents, a wellness area and morning yoga, which was a really big hit. The research says that line-up is still the primary driver of ticket sales, but we can offer a lot more than that — and that seems to be what modern festival attendees want.”

“Mucky, messy, madness,” is how musician Elaine Mai described her first music festival experience, Oxygen 2007. “All I remember about it was seeing Daft Punk, and getting soaked in the rain.”

In contrast, at Electric Picnic’s forthcoming Moonlight Meadows — a boutique campsite; bookings range from €299 to €1190, festival ticket not included — guests can avail of Shark Beauty stylists’ expertise to top up hairstyles that may have been dampened from rain, or book a slot with Benefit and Kylie Cosmetics makeup artists.

Those who prefer to rough it can choose to do their own grooming, by way of stations filled with Boots-stocked luxury lines such as Sol de Janeiro and Marc Jacobs.

At Croí, the festival’s wellness offering, punters can avail of sound baths, Yin Yoga, hot tubs, massages, wood-fired saunas or high-energy Brazilian Afro Dance Classes.

Sarah King of Electric Picnic's Croí stage: 'As the weekend goes on, people get a little braver about stepping out of their comfort zone.' Picture: Gareth Chaney

“Last year was the inaugural Croí,” project manager Sarah King tells the Irish Examiner. “It came about due to demand; young people these days love to party, but they also like to look after themselves, and that whole wellbeing aspect has really become a norm in people’s lives. That trickles down to everything, even the festival experience.”

Though wellness offerings, sober curiosity, and other non-conventional experiences of the festival genre are largely led by members of Gen Z, interest is growing in those of the millennial ilk and up.

“Younger people are definitely more confident in approaching dance classes or meditations, but you get a real mix [at Croí],” says Sarah. “And as the weekend goes on, people get a little braver about stepping out of their comfort zone.”

The most popular workshop in 2023? “Choreographer Don King held a 90s dance class,” she smiles. “It was amazing. He had hundreds of people split them down the middle to do a dance-off. You had total strangers on either side giving it socks.”

Massages, priced at €55, were also among the most popular. “I would very much recommend people book in advance,” she advises.

In the last decade, music festivals have grown to become major money-makers in a competitive industry that sees hundreds of such events each year in Ireland.

There are the big ones — Longitude, All Together Now, Electric Picnic — with big-ticket prices, multiple stages, and seemingly endless lists of performers, as well as dozens of smaller, niche or genre-specific festivals which have also flourished. 

Some claim that this is due to the rise of social media, and thus the “experiential economy”, which dictates that sharing the content of an experience — say a gig, sea swim or meal — on your Instagram is more gratifying than sharing a recent physical purchase. (A 2019 Deloitte survey of millennials — a group that makes up a large portion of music festival attendees — finds that most value experiences above all; 57% of respondents said they prioritised travel and seeing the world over owning a home.)

On the business side, music festivals have become more shaped by competition and innovation. Putting on a festival is no small feat, between paying artists, selling enough tickets to break even, insurance, curators, and marketing.

With this understanding, those in the festival game have begun widening their nets, in the hopes that those who may not have traditionally been interested in music festivals, might now be willing to spend €300 on a ticket; All Together Now, in Co Waterford, offers sustainable craft-making activities to counteract the piles of waste leftover post-festival, and Beyond The Pale, in Co Wicklow, hosts Beyond The Plate, a food-centric space to entice gourmands to sites where, at one stage, the only gastronomical offerings were whatever you packed yourself.

Emmet Condon of Another Love Story festival: ‘Need to find a way to make money outside of ticket sales.’

“Every business with growing competition looks to gain an edge and develop their product, that’s not just the festival world,” Emmet Condon, creative director of Another Love Story says.

“The landscape for independent festivals is incredibly perilous at the minute which means that they have to find ways of making money outside of ticket sales, because they don’t always cover it. I think there’s also an onus on festivals to cater to people who have traditionally been left out, say those who need the extra space because they have a disability.

“The vast majority still come and do it the traditional way so to speak, but that offering — as well as an added appreciation for sustainability — needs to be there.”

Indeed, spaces for those who are at risk of overstimulation or social anxiety are a given at festivals today, like the Lounge at Electric Picnic, which, according to the press release, ensures: you have somewhere to relax each day when you need a little break from dancing to your favourite acts.

The traditional festival offering can overwhelm some people, Sarah King explains. “But they still want to go to festivals, they’re just looking for a more balanced experience.”

For anyone heading to Electric Picnic this week with a pop-up tent, take heart in the knowledge that you’re embodying the spirit of the original festival.

“Festivals tend to be one-shot takes that showcase what’s going on in the wider economy, so you will have some people that have the disposable income to spend, as well as those who don’t,” Condon shares.

“The traditional festival experience is still very much alive; there will be people who arrive with just cans and people who want a hairdryer. As a festival director, you try to cater to them all. Some might say that’s selling out to a degree, but I believe most people think that if others want to spend their money on a more comfortable experience, they’re well within their right to do so.”

“Festivals used to be about letting loose, and the music that facilitated that,” Mai concludes. “Now it’s much more about going off grid for a weekend and experiencing something more holistic.

“I think there’s space for all of it — the traditional experience as well as the new one. And as someone with a two-year-old, I can really appreciate that I can go and enjoy a festival, and still have everything I need.”

Three boujie activities to do at this year's Electric Picnic

RISE Nordic Spa

Unwind in a hot tub

We’re all saying our novenas, but if the weather doesn’t play ball, you can always warm up in the hot tub or sauna.

RISE Nordic Spa are on hand at this year’s festival with solo bookings available for the sauna (€20 per person, 30-minute session) and group bookings available for a private hot tub (€150 - €180 for up to six people, 50 minute session).

Cold plunge pool facilities will also be available on site — now that’s a speedy hangover cure.

risenordicspa.com/electricpicnic

Get a blowout

If you’re anything like us, the hair and make-up is usually on point on day one, but, becomes increasingly basic as the weekend comes to a close and our motivation to make the effort dips.

For those staying in the Moonlight Meadows campsite, Boots is offering free hair and make-up appointments to Advantage card holders with Shark Beauty stylists on-hand to give you the perfect boho blowout. For those not staying in the boutique campsite, there are other options in the field like KASH Beauty who will be offering 15-minute appointments from €10 for those who’d like a professional touch for that all-out glitter look or bold graphic liner.

Boots appointments can be made on site, with bookings open in advance for KASH Beauty at  kashbeauty.com

Upgrade to the lounge

Charging sockets, a cloakroom, premium bar, complimentary ice-cream... we’ll be honest, you had us at charging port. The Electric Picnic lounge offers some respite from the madness, with ample seating (including hammocks!) and a big screen of the main stage so you can watch the action from a more chill space. Charge up your phone, drop off your jacket (who wants to try and find that tent again?) and take a breather. From €80 for a single day, or €180 for the weekend.

exa.mn/71y

Nicole Glennon