Just as Electric Picnic revellers have begun to recover from their Stradbally stay, next year’s event is already sold out, with tickets having gone on general sale on Wednesday. Those who trudged through the mud on Monday and packed up their rain-soaked tents may well be hoping to get one more year out of their equipment. But is there a different option? Some will be asking whether the 'fancy camping' is worth it for the jewel in Ireland’s festival calendar.
As a man who had a very comfortable few days in Stradbally, I can answer that question: yes, yes, a million times yes. Up until this year, I had either slogged it out in the battle royal for space that was the general campsites on Friday morning or bussed it in and out from my partner’s childhood home in Portlaoise. But when the idea was floated by friends to try 'fancy camping', we thought "why not?".
'Fancy camping', organised by Pink Moon, allows punters arrive to an already pitched tent in a specific site complete with private toilet and shower blocks. Different sites offer different tent sizes and facilities but the benefits make going back to traditional camping hard to imagine. There's no battle for space for your tent and the main arena is around 30 seconds away.
There's no fiddling with pegs or worrying about if the tent will blow away with a strong gust. No worries about locating the tent when stumbling from the Salty Dog secret set at 2am. No worries about waterlogging if the weather takes a turn.
No worries about another kind of waterlogging if another camper isn’t bothered to make their way to the portaloos to relieve themselves. An extra benefit? The toilets are a) regularly cleaned and b) they light up when used in the dark. That may sound simple, but I’ve PTSD from previous years of trying to fumble for the (often empty) toilet roll in a portaloo.
There was also mini-salon setup, a street food unit and 24/7 security. Downside? Now, there are some counter-arguments. Firstly, it’s expensive.
The basic option in the Pink Moon site 'Moonlight Meadows', which offers a two-man mini tent, will set you back €299. My particular area of Pink Moon was the furthest away from the main car park, a result of a reshuffle from organisers as to how the festival grounds were used. When pulling a full trolley load of luggage, that can feel like an endless mile.
On Friday alone, my tracker clocked me doing just under 40,000 steps, a large chunk of which would have been going from car to camp to car again. Then there’s the social side of things — some say there’s no craic in the fancypants camping. Well, if you were on your own, that is fair, but the beautiful thing about it is that there isn’t some giant gate that locks you in once you’ve set up.
Anyone is free to head to the Andy Warhol or Jimi Hendrix campsites — EP names its general campsites after famous artists or performers — chill with their mates and then toddle back to their tent for a nicer night’s sleep. What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here In my case, we had three friends who had also opted for Pink Moon as well as a cousin and their partner, so there was enough craic to keep us going until the acts started. It also, crucially, diluted the prices down a bit.
Whereas it would have been €300 apiece for myself and my fiancé if we had gone by ourselves for a two-person offering, that price was halved for the four-person tent we ended up getting. So, having secured my 2025 ticket, will I now be anxiously waiting in the queue for Pink Moon on August 28? You bet. If I see you there, the first prawn sandwich is on me.
.
