FOMO grips Ireland as Electric Picnic sells out

Electric Picnic tickets went back on sale briefly yesterday, for just 15 minutes in fact. That was all the time that it took for the Irish festival to join the elite group of festivals that can sell out without naming an act.

Tickets were initially on sale in the week after this weeks festival in September. Discounted early bird tickets sold quickly and even full price tickets did not last long in that initial sale. The balance of tickets were shifted quickly on Monday.

EP has sold out for the last few years. In recent years, tickets were snapped up within minutes of headliners being announced. Tickets for last years show, which featured Kendrick, N.E.R.D, Massive Attack and The Prodigy were like hens teeth in the weeks leading up to the event. Organisers have even increased capacity by 5,000, to 57,000+ for next year.

Organisers have said they will be releasing the full line up in the New Year. Its not clear whether this will be one big announcement, or whether they will issue a series of announcements through the summer, as is their usual M.O.

One way or another, the power of FOMO has driven the Electric Picnic audience to part with their cash early.

Bastille day in Cork

Indiependence has announced the first to headliners for the August Bank Holiday weekend. Bastille and Biffy Clyro are the opening headliners for the Cork event.

Bastille last played Indie in 2013. This will be the first trip to the Cork venue for Scottish Rockers Biffy Clyro. Biffy have headlined some major festivals in the past, so this is a major coup for Indiependence, a great way to celebrate their tenth year. The festival has grown from 3000 to 15000 in that time.

Organisers are promising an improved VIP area and a larger camping space. These build on improvements in previous years. Tickets cost €139 and are on sale now. They will go up to €149 in January.

Check out updates at www.indiependencefestival.com

Jaysis, that’s cheap!

Electric Castle dropped an email into my inbox this afternoon, advertising their early bird tickets that go on sale in the morning, October 10. Electric Castle is an annual music festival held on the spectacular Transylvanian domain of the Bánffy Castle, near Cluj-Napoca in Romania. The early bird tickets are on sale October 10-11.

Last years line up included Damian Marley, Jessie J, London Grammar, Mura Masa, Richie Hawtin, Groove Armada, San Holo and Mercury Prize Winners Wolf Alice.

So, the early bird price for this five day festival is…….. 329 Romanian Leu. For those of you not up to date on your Leu exchange rates, that is 70 euro or 62 sterling. Plenty of flights from the UK and Ireland to Cluj.

Also it appears that the 1000 early bird tickets bought will get an upgrade to better camping courtesy of event sponsors Lidl.

Definitely worth a look here.

Wilderness and Black Deer updates

Two slightly smaller festivals, Wilderness and Black Deer issued updates in the last few days.

Wilderness is possibly the most British and (upper) middle class event I have ever seen. Set in the beautiful Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, Wilderness is a celebration of music, food, thought and life. With an attendance of circa 10,000, this is firmly at the more boutique end of the spectrum. The presence of opera, world class chefs and an extensive ‘wellbeing’ element – christ i hate that word – only serves to further nail home the boutiqueyness (real word). Early bird tickets are on sale here and so are the posh accomodation options. I am guessing these involve gold plated cutlery.

It’s easy to be cynical but this looks like a lot of fun. Tickets from £168

A very different kettle of bourbon, Black Deer is a festival celebrating Americana and Country Music. Taking place in Eridge Park in Kent, 2018 was the festival’s first year. They did such a good job that they are up for a best new Festival award gong at the National Association of Outdoor Events annual awards.

Iron and Wine and Passenger were the 2018 headliners. In addition to a strong representation of the genre, there were custom motorbikes, strong whiskey and smoked meat. Y’all stop on by now….. hmmmm.

Tickets are from £115 plus booking fees for weekend camping. They have a 4 for the price of 3 offer which is pretty good, which would reduce the cost to about £86 plus fees, which to be fair is a pretty good deal. Tickets here.