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\n The festival sent mobile phone updates to punters asking them not to go to the Electric Arena at one point on Saturday night\n<\/p>\n
ELECTRIC PICNIC ORGANISERS knew about \u201cpotentially significant overcrowding\u201d hours before a performance by Duke Dumont at the festival this year, records show.<\/p>\n
Emails seen by The Journal\u00a0show that Festival Republic kept the English DJ on the 16,720-capacity Electric Arena stage despite getting permission to move him to the larger, outdoor Main Stage because the company expected huge crowds at his gig.<\/p>\n
Organisers were later forced to issue multiple notifications asking festival-goers not to approach the tent where Duke Dumont played as it reached capacity on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Correspondence released under the Freedom of Information Act shows that Festival Republic twice contacted Laois County Council earlier on the Saturday afternoon asking whether they could move Duke Dumont to the Main Stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In an email sent to council senior planner David O\u2019Hara at 5.02pm on Saturday, Festival Republic\u2019s senior licensing operations and compliance coordinator Pascale Miller referred to a telephone conversation that afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo reiterate the information shared on the call, we are potentially facing significant overcrowding in the Electric Arena with Duke Dumont\u2019s performance this evening,\u201d Miller wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe app figures are indicating that Duke Dumont will be more popular than the Main Stage performances across the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller said organisers were examining how to mitigate the risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best solution would be to move the performance to the Main Stage. This would involve finishing at 02.30am, subject to the technical requirements of the artist being met,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease can you confirm we are able to proceed on this basis.\u201d<\/p>\n
The council agreed to allow the Main Stage to operate until approximately 2.30am to facilitate the move, stating that its decision was based on crowd safety.<\/p>\n
In a response at 6pm, O\u2019Hara said the planning authority was agreeable to a stage time overrun \u201cto facilitate the anticipated audience at the main stage rather than electric arena\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision is based on crowd safety,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe conclusion of the main stage at 2.30 approx is therefore acceptable and considered in compliance with the terms and conditions of the licence.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Duke Dumont performed in the Electric Arena that night, playing at the same time as Saturday\u2019s headliner Gorillaz.<\/p>\n
The correspondence does not establish why the proposed move did not proceed or whether the artist\u2019s technical requirements prevented it.<\/p>\n
The events followed the cancellation of Armand van Helden\u2019s performance at the Smirnoff Stage on Friday night after a crowd collapse.<\/p>\n
Attendees at the cancelled performance described people falling on top of one another as others continued to enter the area.<\/p>\n
During Duke Dumont\u2019s performance, the festival sent alerts through its app directing attendees away from the Electric Arena.<\/p>\n
\n The festival sent mobile phone updates to punters asking them not to go to the Electric Arena at one point on Saturday night\n<\/p>\n
The Journal reported at the time that crowds outside the tent were several rows deep by about halfway through the set.<\/p>\n