ELECTRIC PICNIC 2018 is set to become more gender inclusive as they announce a new night of their festival.
The annual festival has launched an extra night of festivities dedicated to showcasing female comedic talent to the early campers onsite.
The music event, which also celebrates comedy, cookery, yoga, mindfulness and so much more has scheduled a list of female comedians to perform on Thursday night, the night before the festival gates open on Friday morning.
Hundreds of people arrive early to get good spots on camping sites and can avail of seeing comedians such as Aoife Dooley, Lisa Casey, Sharon Mannion, Aine Gallagher, Harriet Braine, Ashlee Bentley, Sahar Ali, Blaithin DeBurca, Aoife O'Connor, Christina McMahon, Orla O'Doherty Brown, Fiona Frawley and Grace Mulvey.
The Thursday night of female comedians will be MCed by international star Joanne McNally.
The idea was coined by promoter Emily Callaghan and festival director Melvin Benn after a chance meeting.
Melvin Benn spoke of how he first started an initiative to aid female musicians to get recognition: "We launched a first initiative in the UK in August this year; ReBalance, which will enable future and current female musicians within the industry, to have the support they need to be recognised.
He said in Ireland, the priority of the festival would be to elevate Irish female comedians: "In Ireland, our first step is to introduce an all female comedy line up which will perform on Thursday night on the Hazel Wood stage... The Thursday night will have incredible meaning as well as incredible comedians."
Emily Callaghan commented on how the new addition of Thursday night will be the perfect time to showcase female comedy: "Every act at The Hazel Wood Comedy stage will be hand-picked. I'm really excited to run this and I hope many people will wander down to the woods on Thursday and be blown away by the talent on display. I am so excited to see the show myself as there will be so many acts that I admire and who make me laugh. I am also delighted to announce we have the amazing Joanne McNally on board as MC. It's the perfect start to kick off the weekend and I know that the audience will love it"
BIG NEWS WHAT. AN. HONOUR. <3
(@EmCally is a queen and a hero) pic.twitter.com/0tEetnpLkw
— Bláithín de Burca (@BeingBla) December 11, 2017
Journalists and broadcasters such as Roisín Ingle and Louise McSharry have welcomed the initiative.
Electric Picnic to host all-female comedy lineup as a result of a chance meeting between Melvin Bragg and Emily O’Callaghan, a sometime stand-up who bemoaned the lack of women on the lineups at festival. pic.twitter.com/mSszSu3qsY
— Louise McSharry (@louisemcsharry) December 11, 2017
This is great well done @EmCally ?? https://t.co/6uRLd487nW
— Roisin Ingle (@roisiningle) December 11, 2017
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