Electric Picnic may have been celebrating its 13th year in Stradbally. But it was LaoisToday’s first year to ever cover the popular festival.
We had received two media passes to cover the festival throughout the weekend. It was decided early on that Steven and I would work at the festival throughout the weekend.
On the first day of the festival, thousands of people travelled from all over the country to Stradbally.
As the crowds gathered into Stradbally hall for the annual festival, our job wasn’t just to cover the event…but to figure the whole thing out. It was our first year so we had a lot to figure out.
We were going to be working at Electric Picnic as part of the press. So unlike other years of going in with my tent and cans I was going in with laptops, tripods and cameras. I didn’t really know what to do, or where to go.
I was familiar with the layout, as I had attended the press day earlier that week. I hadn’t even managed to make it to the media tent to drop off all the equipment before I was stopped by a few locals asking me to take their picture and feature on the LaoisToday snapchat.
Thankfully the weekend was a major success, I was beyond overwhelmed with the positive reaction LaoisToday were getting. As it was one of the biggest evens I had ever covered, receiving such positive feedback from our readers really gave me the boost of confidence I needed.
Some of the best known acts were the highlight to the weekend for most people. But for us it was the people of Laois who helped create the wonderful atmosphere once again.
The team here at LaoisToday were flat out getting photos of locals throughout the whole weekend including getting a few snaps with well-known celebrities such as Brent Pope, the RTE rugby pundit who took the time to chat to us.
All the festival-goers happily posed with our LaoisToday sign, as we thoroughly enjoyed covering the festival for the first time. We’re also glad to report that the sign made it home safe and sound.
Looking forward to covering Electric picnic in 2018 for LaoisToday again.
The LaoisToday 2017 Annual is now on sale in bookshops and newsagents around the county – this is where you can buy it
