Electric Picnic officials have responded to the ‘extremely disappointing’ decision by Laois County Council to refuse a licence for this year’s event.
The council defended their announcement by saying it was made on the basis of Public Health advice made available to them by the HSE.
Organisers of the yearly Stradbally event have hit out at the decision and said they can't understand the reasoning after they proposed that ‘everyone attending the event, including ticket holders, staff and artists, would have to be fully vaccinated and registered in advance for Department of Health contact tracing.’
There was hope that the September date would go ahead this year with appropriate measures in place, and so the recent ban will mark another unexpected knock to the industry.
A spokesperson said: "This is a huge blow and set back to our entire sector, which was mandated to close on the 12th March 2020 (over 500 days ago) and such a decision now means the further loss of employment for over 3,000 people, who had clung to the hope that Electric Picnic would bring an end to their period of hardship."
Meanwhile, they pointed to Scotland as an example of a country in a similar situation as Ireland, with case numbers and vaccination rates, where similar live music events have been given the go-ahead and said seeing this 'easing restrictions and events such as TRNSMT Festival in Glasgow go ahead in September makes this decision even more difficult to accept.'
Organisers are now calling on all members of the government 'to interrupt their summer recess' to issue new guidelines, with a reopening date for the sector of August 14 on a phased basis leading to no restrictions from September 1, onwards.
They are now reviewing all options for those who hold tickets for this year’s event and have said they will contact them over the coming days.
