Eighty thousand music fans spent the weekend on the Stradbally Hall estate. Here’s what we loved and hatedElectric Picnic 2026: Lola Young on the Main Stage on Saturday. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Rebecca DalyMon Aug 31 2026 - 05:28 • 4 MIN READHIGHSCMAT performs JoleneThe Dunboyne Diana paid tribute to the late Dolly Parton with a cover of Jolene – a rousing rendition that kicked off her five-star performance on Saturday night. CMAT had given us a fright the day before by pulling out of a festival in France because of illness, but the importance to her of making it back to headline Electric Picnic was clear. She may have performed on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 2025, but this was the “most important gig I have ever played at, because it’s really magical to know my home understands me the best”.Green and Red of MayoThe Saw Doctors’ Sunday-afternoon set was pure chaos, with a very energetic crowd and a surprise appearance from this year’s All-Ireland-winning footballers – who, naturally, emerged to their unofficial anthem, the band’s song Green and Red of Mayo. There were flags, bucket hats and jerseys galore – plus pure delight all round.Electric Picnic 2026: Mayo's All-Ireland winners on stage with The Saw Doctors on Sunday. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Sombr performs ZombieAfter pulling off one of the most ludicrous entrances in the history of Electric Picnic – the 21-year-old New York pop star pulled up backstage in a Mercedes, tried to shoot a glass of stout with a crossbow and then yelled at the camera as he romped out into the spotlight – Sombr provided a genuinely surprising moment with his cover of Zombie, accompanied by Noel and Mike Hogan of The Cranberries. Lola Young’s surprise setSaturday’s Main Stage line-up had initially included a midafternoon hole. Then the ultra-observant noticed that Lola Young had posted an Instagram story on Friday that showed her arriving at Dublin Airport. Would the Messy star pop up at Electric Picnic, they wondered. She would indeed, in that unfilled Saturday slot, and as she performed on the Main Stage you could see CMAT checking out her set from the wings.Pees and queuesWhat a revelation to have clean, well-serviced, flushable toilets in the arena this weekend. Peequals were a great idea, too, at least in principle – they’re designed to make peeing easier and quicker for women, so cutting down on festival queues. We’re reserving judgment until we’ve used them a few more times. Neat freaksThe main arena felt so much cleaner this year, too. Has everyone become a neat freak, or were we right in thinking that the festival had more people going around and cleaning throughout the day?Lovely Local shows The Lovely Local, Guinness’s two-storey “tribute to the Irish pub”, had a very cool vibe all round, but a performance there by The Scratch on Saturday was an extra treat. It was enough to make the crowd outside dance in the rain.LOWSSpace-hogging campersYes, it’s great for you and your early-access friends that you can arrive on Thursday and pitch your tents in a big, space-hogging circle around a gazebo. It’s not so great for us eejits who can’t get down until the next day, and find there’s barely any room left. Sure you could hardly get a Rizla paper between our tent and the one next to us.Armand Van Helden’s mobbed setLack of space became a much more serious concern when the Smirnoff Stage got so crowded as Armand Van Helden prepared to come out on Friday night that, in the crush, people began to fall over. The organisers cancelled the American DJ’s set as soon as they saw the crowd collapse – Van Helden was clearly booked for a stage he was too big for, according to Melvin Benn of Festival Republic, which runs Electric Picnic. “The crowd just shoved everyone and we all fell like dominoes,” said one woman in her 20s. “I did start crying after. When you can only see people’s shoulders ahead of you for a mile, it’s a bit scary.”Uncertain stewardsWhether it was to do with parking or needing to find your way around Electric Picnic’s vast site, we found that some of the stewards weren’t always the best at giving directions. Sometimes, two of them would give different answers to the same question. Lack of one huge nameWe loved so many of this year’s acts, including a chatless but on-top-form Van Morrison and a thrilling Geese (who played another uncomfortably full stage), but Electric Picnic has had stronger headliners in years past. Just think of Chappell Roan, who fans jammed the main arena for in 2025, or Billie Eilish, who gave equally memorable performances in 2023 and 2019. Three of this year’s main acts, Lewis Capaldi, Gorillaz and, yes, CMAT, had all played big Irish gigs in recent months.Electric Picnic 2026: Geese on stage at Rankins Wood on Sunday. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Eyesore logos From the Flogas bar and Bank of Ireland Ferris wheel to the illuminated “Presented by 3″ sign above the Main Stage, it felt as if the branding had been stepped up a notch at this year’s festival.The weatherWe saved it until the very end of our list, as you can’t make too big a deal about rain in Ireland. But we are going to make a bit of deal about it, as some of the weekend’s downpours were biblical. There we were, after July’s heatwaves, thinking we might need to get used to hot weather. Then, at summer’s end, the rain returned to remind us where we live.SHARE YOUR STORIESIN THIS SECTION