As the dust settles on the Electric Picnic site in Stradbally, Co. Laois, the scene left behind by the 70,000 revelers has been described as 'disgraceful'.
It’s so frustrating seeing people yet again leaving the #electricpicnic campsite in this condition. It’s not that hard to use a bin and pick up after yourself. pic.twitter.com/WMcAKwecWs
— Liam De Brún (@liamdeb) September 5, 2022
A record crowd attended the three-day music and arts extravaganza, with much of the weekend a washout, featuring flooded (and submerged) tents and an awful lot of mud.
Despite the weather, the festival was hailed as a huge success with director Melvin Benn saying:
“It's been absolutely glorious,”
"One of the amazing things about EP is the spirit, the craic and it is touchable, it’s different, it’s identifiable. And of course, amazing as it is what we present on the stage and people ultimately come for that, but the participation of the crowd and their enjoyment of the festival, when those two collide, then it really works."
However, one performer has taken to social media, describing his disgust at how members of the public left the site.
Comedian Martin Beanz Ward described 'campsites left like dumps' and 'excrement' on the walls and roof of portaloos.
In all my life I have never seen dirtier people than those that were at EP this weekend. Excrement up along the walls and the roof of portaloos, the campsites were left like dumps. I know everyone says it's all part of the experience, but I just think it's absolutley disgusting.
— Martin (Beanz) Warde (@martinbeanz) September 5, 2022
Ward went on to clarify it wasn't a dig at organisers, but those who attended the festival over the three days.
Before anyone thinks that this is a dig at the festival, it's not. The organiser made sure those toilets were cleaned everyday. It was the general public who were being disgusting. How does anyone manage to get excrement on the roof? The public left thecampsite like a dump too.
— Martin (Beanz) Warde (@martinbeanz) September 5, 2022
