{"id":605211,"date":"2026-08-26T14:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T14:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/605211\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T14:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T14:02:11","slug":"electric-picnic-26-nomad-dining-barefoot-serenity-big-laughs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/605211\/","title":{"rendered":"Electric Picnic 26: Nomad dining, barefoot serenity & big laughs"},"content":{"rendered":"

80,000 festival-goers are set to descend on Stradbally this weekend for the return of Electric Picnic, Ireland’s biggest music and arts festival.<\/p>\n

Running from 28-30 August, Picnickers will have the chance to enjoy live performances from acts like CMAT, sombr, Fontaines DC, Lewis Capaldi, Amble, Zara Larsson, and Gorillaz on the main stage.<\/p>\n

Not to mention the 50 other stages, areas, and venues across the festival site that will offer live entertainment from musicians, artists, comedians, yogis and foodies.<\/p>\n

Old favourites will, of course, return, but this year’s festival celebrates 21 years with some exciting new additions.<\/p>\n

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Nomad: Global Flavours in Stradbally<\/p>\n

“Nomad is a space that’s got two bookable restaurants,” explains Richard Irwin, the man in charge of feeding 80,000 people.<\/p>\n

“Ibile do a really awesome grilled spiced steak,” he adds. “[Biang Biang] do hand-pulled noodles, and they do some great dumplings. It is authentic, global food that we’re trying to bring to Picnic. Just as the Irish palate starts migrating away from spice bags, we hope to cater to that.”<\/p>\n

\n

Using the EP app, festival-goers can book lunch in advance at Ibile, a restaurant that brings the vibrant flavours and culture of West Africa, and Biang Biang, which serves authentic Chinese cuisine inspired by Chang’an province.<\/p>\n

Both restaurants will offer sittings between 12.30pm – 4pm. Following the final sitting, the restaurants will transform into an open dining space, offering walk-up food and drinks, with other options including Bah33, a Brazilian steakhouse and grill; Gyro Kings, serving up Greek-inspired flavours; and Wing It, the popular chicken wing chain founded in Belfast.<\/p>\n

\"Pizza
\nBelfast-based pizza brand Flout will be available at the festival for the first time.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere at the festival, Flout – a Belfast-based pizza brand – will make its first appearance in Stradbally.<\/p>\n

Expect organic sourdough, mouth-watering marinara and gochujang vodka sauce, local cheese and meat toppings, and homemade oils.<\/p>\n

The company specialises in bringing a Belfast twist to Sicilian and New York-style slices. For example, their take on a traditional Sfincione pizza comes with a Tayto-infused sauce and heaps of Irish cheese.<\/p>\n

Barefoot Garden in Cro\u00ed<\/p>\n

New within the Serenity Garden in Cro\u00ed this year is the Barefoot Garden, which offers attendees a chance to connect with the earth.<\/p>\n

In a festival where feet rarely touch the ground, this is a simple moment of grounding: bringing skin to soil, body to land.<\/p>\n

Yoga teacher, holistic therapist, and sound practitioner Fiona Tierney says the garden will be a “sliver of peace amongst the madness”.<\/p>\n

\"Daithi
\nDaithi Neavyn and Fiona Tierney<\/p>\n

As well as giving your feet a break from those well-worn wellies, Tierney says that going barefoot is a great way to connect with nature.<\/p>\n

“We’re all energy,” she smiles. “When we settle on the floor and put our feet to the ground, it is allowing the electromagnetic charge of the ground to feed into us, and for us to feed back into it.”<\/p>\n

“To actually be able to get your feet on the ground and be present with what’s happening underneath your feet is just so important to the body. Especially for something like this, where you’re going to be trudging around in boots!<\/p>\n

\n

“I call it festi-back,” she laughs. “When you’re just walking for the entire festival and by the end of it, you’re going, ‘Oh, my god, my back!’. This is an invitation to lay in the little domes and take in the nature that’s surrounding you.”<\/p>\n

Comedy: An extra night of laughs<\/p>\n

This year, Electric Picnic have added an extra night of comedy, with the tent opening from 6pm on Friday evening.<\/p>\n

The fourth largest tent at the festival, the line-up is expected to bring absolute magic with performances from Deirdre O’Kane, Mario Rosenstock, Reggie Watts, Shane Todd, Vittorio Angelone, Mike Rice, Emer Maguire, Paddy McDonnell, Diona Doherty, David McSavage, Rachel Galvo, Aoife Dunne, Daid Nihill, Enya Martin, Kevin McGahern, Alison Spittle, Bernard O\u2019Shea, Michael Fry, Anna Clifford, Katie Boyle, John Colleary, Martin Angolo, Sin\u00e9ad Quinlan, Breda Heggarty, Richie Bree, Taran O’Sullivan and many more.<\/p>\n

\"Comedians
\nThere is an extra night of comedy coming to EP 2026<\/p>\n

Festival veteran and MC extraordinaire Karl Spain says that any newcomers should enjoy their time on stage and do their best to ignore the inevitable distractions.<\/p>\n

“If you were doing a club night and someone was dozing off, you might think that needs to be dealt with,” he laughs. “But at Electric Picnic, it needs to be left alone!”<\/p>\n

“Regardless of where the gig is on or what the gig is… a gig is a gig! If you’re talking, people are listening,” he insists.<\/p>\n

“Even if it’s your first time here, you’re not a new act. You’ve experienced tough gigs, and this one is a bit of fun. It’s a bit of joy, and it’s a great place for punters to hang out.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"80,000 festival-goers are set to descend on Stradbally this weekend for the return of Electric Picnic, Ireland’s biggest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,61,60],"class_list":["post-605211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}