MCD managing director Denis Desmond has said that it is “unlikely” that Electric Picnic will go ahead in September as planned.
Electric Picnic is scheduled to start on September 4, just four days after the end of the government’s current restrictions on mass gatherings involving people over 5,000 people.
A number of festivals due to take place before the end of August have already pulled the plug, including All Together Now in Waterford and Longitude in Dublin. Desmond now feels that Electric Picnic may have no choice but to follow suit, saying: “It’s the week after the date. Will it happen? It would be great if it does, it’d be nice, but we’ll obviously wait for the Government decision. We’re expecting more news from the Government on the 5th of May. I would’ve thought at this stage in time, yeah it’s a long shot. The chances of it happening are not good.”
He also gave his opinion on when he thinks such events can take place again, adding that it could be “March and April next year before outdoor concerts could be staged again” but that “events in the 3 Arena in Dublin might resume before Christmas.”
Electric Picnic 2020 is due to be headlined by Rage Against The Machine, Snow Patrol and Lewis Capaldi among others.
