The line-up for Electric Picnic 2019 has, today (March 14) been revealed, and it is lead by Hozier; The 1975; Florence and The Machine; and The Strokes. The festival will be returning to County Laois, in Ireland, between the 30th of August and the 1st of September 2019 – with all four of the above acts taking top billing across the weekend.
This year’s festival is set to include an impressive line-up with some of today’s biggest names joining the stellar headline acts Hozier, The 1975, Florence and the Machine, and The Strokes. Among the other notable names, revealed in the first series of acts is Jess Glynne, Billie Eilish, Christine & The Queens, James Blake, Jarvis Cocker, Years & Years, and Miles Kane.
Speaking about the line-up, festival Director Melvin Benn, said: “It’s the most extraordinary line-up, way way beyond anything we’ve ever done, absolutely amazing. Hozier is going to be really really special headlining the show.” While previous line-ups may not have suited everyone, he believes there’s something for everyone this time around saying: “There will always be people who are disappointed. How they’d be disappointed with this one is beyond me!”
The following acts are also on the bill and will be joining the already stellar line-up is Dermot Kennedy, Four Tet, James Blake, Róisín Murphy, The Streets, Amelie Lens, Courtney Barnett, Echo & The Bunnymen, Freya Ridings, Kölsch, Maceo Plex, Metronomy, Michael Kiwanuka, Mitski, and MØ.
Taking place across three days from the 30th of August to the 1st of September 2019, at Stradbally Hall, in Co Laois, Ireland, the 2019 festival is the biggest in Ireland with a capacity this year of 55,000. The festival boasts not only multiple stages with different genres of music but spoken word, comedy, theatre, workshops, crafts, dance, lake swimming, gourmet food and a host of other treats.
Completing the first series of acts, revealed today, is Parquet Courts, Sam Fender, Shura, Alma, Bodega, Cavetown, G Flip, Georgia, Heavy Lungs, Kero Kero Bonito, Let’s Eat Grandma, Sasami, Sea Girls, Serpentwithfeet, Songs of Kemet, and Yves Tumor, with more to be announced soon.
The wait is over. @thestrokes @flo_tweet @Hozier & @the1975 will headline EP 2019! They’ll be joined by Billie Eilish, Christine & The Queens, Dermot Kennedy, Four Tet, James Blake +many more! https://t.co/76c7yScIJw pic.twitter.com/bEHMQISILz
— Electric Picnic (@EPfestival) March 13, 2019
This year also sees the addition of a brand new area, Freetown, which sees an extra 30 acres added to the Electric Picnic site. It’s an entirely new self-contained town which will be created (by the creatives behind Salty Dog, Berlinhaus, and Trailer Park) on the site formerly occupied by the Oscar Wilde campsite. It will centre around Terminus, a new 8,000 capacity stage for electronic and dance. The town will also boast Providencia with ‘Latino life down every alley-way’ and, on the outskirts, there will be Spike Island, The Oasis, and Cirque.
Speaking about the new addition, Benn, said: “I pressed a real big refresh button with the festival. I’m not diluting anything in the existing festival – it’s a whole new area. It’s a place that will really move Electric Picnic on to another festival within itself.”
The announcement comes as festival organisers, Festival Republic, that they will soon be announcing a brand new summer festival at a new location. In the meantime, the focus is on Electric Picnic, which now faces a little competition from All Together Now, which arrived on the scene to rave reviews last Bank Holiday weekend, in August.
However, according to Been there’s room for everyone, with Benn saying: “I’ve spent my entire life creating and producing festivals and I believe festivals are an incredible release for people’s pressured lives. The fact that there are more and more of them is only reinforcing my belief that they are so important. I’m not looking at them from a point of view of worry or anything like that. I just think the more the better. The more people who are going to festivals the better it is.”
