Music lovers in Ireland got a major boost on Wednesday afternoon when the organisers behind Electric Picnic revealed their plans for the annual festival for 2021.
With vaccinations being administered by the thousands every day and 70% of people set to be jabbed by the end of July, there was hope for events in the latter half of the year - including Electric Picnic.
However, in order to give themselves a bit more leeway, organisers decided to push the festival back by three weeks.
In a statement, they said: "Good afternoon everyone. We wanted to update you all on how Electric Picnic plans to move forward this year. Given the great progress the HSE is making on the Vaccine Rollout so far, and the recently announced target of having at least 70% of the country fully vaccinated by the end of July, we are still confident that the festival can take place this year.
"That being said, we feel we have a much better chance of that happening by moving the dates back a few weeks to September 24-26 instead of the original dates of September 3-5.
"We are as desperate as everyone else to get our industry back up and running, and if moving the festival further back in September helps that dream become a reality then we feel it’s the right decision to make."
With that being said, it has left a number of questions - the answers to which are up in the air as things stand.
The main one though, will be related to tickets.
When the festival was postponed for 2020, anyone who had tickets to the event was offered complimentary tickets to the 2021 staging.
But with the status currently seeming hopeful, many are wondering how 70,000 will be able to be squeezed into Stradbally Hall across the weekend.
Here's what we know so far.
What if I can't make it for the changed dates?
Electric Picnic organisers will offer a full refund in this case.
"We also understand that this may not suit everyone, and if you cannot make it that weekend then you are entitled to a full refund."
Will returned tickets go on sale again?
This is unclear as of yet.
What if the event is cancelled?
Ticketmaster will automatically process a full refund to the card you used to buy your tickets with if you have purchased online. For tickets bought at box office or an outlet please see www.ticketmaster.ie/outletrefund.
On Tuesday, a local councillor called for the event to be postponed again.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Paschal McEvoy said that locals feel the festival is a step too far this year.
“The Electric Picnic brings a massive financial contribution to the locality and to Laois in general and probably further afield but we feel here in Stradbally … my feedback from the locals is that it is too soon to have 70,000 people converge on a small town like Stradbally.
“We are hoping that Festival Republic takes the decision to postpone it again.”
