Electric picnic Festival in Dublin

(Alert! hard to read...)

...............CHOOOOFFF!!!

It was the first thing I heard just arrived at the festival when I leave the car. When I looked down and I watch my shoes I understand Why..

More than a camping was a sea with a little ground terrain, but finally I built my tent, in fact I built it so well (stand up the 3 days)

The electric picnic is an art and music festival in Dublin, the biggest and most famous festival in Ireland (of both Irelands). It's really huge! I've never been in one festival as big as this one, good music poster and a lot of things to do and see. The price of the ticket was 250€ (yes yes...is not an orthographic mistake, 250€!)

I was lucky because my organization (where I’m working) was invited for free to the festival and we put our own tent to explain our projects to the people. I went to the festival like a volunteer, to give a hand, for this reason we didn't pay ticket.

Friday just arrived there, I built my tent and then I went to the tent of DePaul (my organization) for do a welcome meeting and to explain us our work there. There were 3 different positions, 1 in the bar (we offered free tea and coffee to the visitors), another position was staying outside the tent inviting the people to come in our tent to see our projects and the other one was stay inside the tent talking with the visitors explaining our work in the projects and doing one activity called “hidden talents”

Much of the time I was outside the tent “inviting” the people to come in our tent to see our projects, I cannot say it was not funny, because it really was... the strategy selected for my organization to catch visitors was give free chocolates to the people who was walking around (M&M, mars, kit Kat, and more…) then I was all the day with a cube full of sweets giving them to the people.

Reactions? All types of it. The phrase was, Hello! Would u like some free sweets??

1st reaction: Free?? Are u sure??? Holy shit yes!!! Can I take more than 1?

2on reaction: Free?? Totally free?? Sure it’s totally free?? Yes… Can I give u a hug?? This was really funny and the last day I changed my strategy, but this is another history and I explain u later….

3th reaction: No thx…

My answer was: WHAAAT!!!???  Then I explained them... I am from Spain and I cannot understand the Irish people… If I go in Spain giving something free to the people (and more if it’s chocolate) this cube not last more than a minute, then usually they took 1 sweet for not  offend me…XD

4th reaction: People with kids…

Obviously the kids swoop in the sweet box…and they took as many as fit in their hands…the mothers sometimes watched me with bad face (like good mothers) then I told them:

Don’t worry ma’am it’s not drug inside, I’m working in a charity organization you can take 1 too and you can go to my tent to drink a free coffee or free tea, the only drug that they have is caffeine. (Then they smile me and they went for their coffee…of course XD).

Here the festival are not the same like in Spain, when we talk about  a festival we are understanding that we are going to a place for drink, and drink, and drink and take drugs... With the aim to see some rock groups, to end senseless and then go to sleep. (This is a very personal appreciation, Sorry if I hurt some readers with my comments…But you must know IT’S TRUE!!)

For them a festival has 2 ways, the first one is the familiar way, the other is the musical way, by the day in this festival was a lot of spectacles, theatre events, and zones with a lot of NGOs (non-government organizations) or charity groups (like my organization), a lot of shops or relaxed concerts like Celtic music. But in the night... Well in the night they are worse than us.

The 1st night, even when I was tired I went for a walk with my organization mates from Dublin to see few shows, and some concerts, 1 of them was Sigur Rós, a group that mix heavy metal, rock and classical music, the singer was playing the violoncello like a guitar and also he played the guitar with a violin stick…quite spectacular.

The 2nd night I was watching the cure, but the truth is that left me a bit indifferent, I expected something better… then I was giving a walk in other areas of the festival with some raves and more concerts and shows.

LAST DAY

As I said before, there were people asking me, can I give you a hug? Then on the last day I decided to wear a sign around my neck where I wrote:

"FREE HUGS & FREE CHOCOLATE"

The reaction was immediately...much more people needed a hug than a simple free sweet (but they took a sweet too :D)

Is not necessary to say that my diet for 3 days was chocolates and 4 or 5 coffees every day…a week later I haven’t be able to eat chocolate… XD)

Also the last day I was inside the tent with an activity called “secret talent” was basically telling people to write on a paper their secret talent (at the end was not secret, but the intention is the important thing here) the papers were really funny too, I saw something like:


“I know how to build a tent” “when I’m wrong I admit my mistakes” “I sing when I’m taking a shower” or one bald person who wrote on the paper: “the hairiest man ever” (I think all of you know who is this last one...)

Then, finally came the night and I went to the concert of The killers...I can tell you a lot of things about this concert…but I’m going to tell u only one “FUCKING BRILLIANT” one of the best concerts that I ever seen.

But! There was still time for 1 more curiosity, the silent disco…

One of the events  I saw at the festival was the silent disco, it was a big disco tent, but the funny thing is, it wasn’t  music, but you can listened the people screaming songs, the secret? Wireless headphones...

When I went in the disco tent the staff members gave me a headphone, where they had two music channels, one was more dance and the other was more rock. Was a very funny experience 

Here you have some pictures of the festival
Sorry for the delay, I hope to explain more things soon.


Loves you,
The bald of Belfast