Not long to go until Electric Picnic! While we're all very excited about the line-up and cannot wait to explore all that the festival have to offer, it's important to focus on all the good that comes from the festival too. It's just been announced that the organisers of Electric Picnic have provided funds to help St. Colman’s National School purchase land which will benefit the entire community of Stradbally. The land purchased by Electric Picnic will be used by the community, but mostly by St. Colman’s National School during their term time and will also benefit clubs and teams throughout evenings and weekends. The idea was brought to the attention of festival organisers by the very hard working residents association which Electric Picnic meets with every year. Principal of St. Colman’s Cathal Ruane commented on the news saying, “It is hard to describe how fantastic this new pitch area is going to be for our pupils, we have a huge tradition of sports and activities here in St. Colman’s but unfortunately we cannot give our pupils the opportunities they deserve. Electric Picnic is going to make a lasting contribution here in Stradbally one that will be felt by many generations to come, we couldn’t be happier!” Melvin Benn, Festival Director of Electric Picnic, spoke of the importance of giving back to the community, “Our festival could not go ahead without the continued support of the community of Stradbally and surrounding areas, this donation is our small way of giving back and giving thanks”. The two-acre site in the centre of the village will be transformed into a state of the art all-weather pitch with running track, car-parking and a children’s play area; which can be enjoyed by people of all ages. This donation means that festival organisers will be giving back to the community of Stradbally in the best way possible by promoting health and fitness (muddy wellies are optional). With the help of the €65,000 worth of donationa the community of Stradbally will benefit from the land for the years to come.