Jazz & World Music Stage

New stage added - Jazz & World Music Stage which will be hosted by the Improvised Music Company. Musical tastes are ever evolving, and adventurous ears at this years Electric Picnic will find plenty to stimulate them at the Jazz & World Music Stage. Ireland's leading independent jazz and world music promoters are a welcome new addition, and evidence that the festival knows no boundaries when it comes to creative music, irrespective of labels and idioms. Programmed by Gerry Godley, this stage will be an acoustic affair and will add another dimension to the Picnic's melting pot, joining the dots between jazz and contemporary classical groups, along with living traditional music from around the world, and why not some of our own traditional music too. There'll be everything from chamber music to desert blues, from funky organ trios to grooving Balkan brass

International Comedy Club Stage

Roars of laughter are set to roll over the lawns of Stradbally once again this year when the essential International Comedy Club Stage returns for another riotous weekend of Leckie Pickie laugher. Founded by Des Bishop in 1998, The International Comedy Club is the nerve centre and nurturing ground of comedy in Ireland where new blood can rub shoulders with the great and the good from the world of international comedy. This stage has been an enormously popular part of the Electric Picnic experience since year one and the line-up for 2008 promises to be as stellar as ever

The Body & Soul Village

The Body & Soul Village will of course be once more pulsating to its own rhythm. Imagine a breathing, living, pulsating, nature inspired realm filled with beauty, art, performance, cutting edge theatre, holistic therapies, yoga, green workshops, luscious gardens, tipis & log fires, ambient bean bag lounging, acoustic vibes, night time installations, skilled artisans set free across the landscape to inspire and be inspired, an eclectically programmed Chill Stage featuring a mix of folk, world, classical, electonic, reggae, roots and hip wiggling funk - along with the "MerkaBar" geo-dome, indulging you with the best in down tempo grooves, visual art, trapese and sumptuous décor

Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Cirque

World renowned performance art troupe, Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Cirque crawls out of the Los Angeles underground art & music scene once again to frolic in their favorite Irish wonderland…xtravagant, other-worldly creatures from beyond create mystical playgrounds of fire and air

Spoken Word area

Music & Art are just one just two aspects of the many faces of Electric Picnic, and this year we are expanding the Spoken Word area; The Leviathan Think Tank is back to nourish the addled minds of festival-goers with world class poets from the UK, US, South Africa and Australia, one-act theatre from Little John Nee and Vendetta Theatre Co. hosted by Marty Mulligan. Major debates, hosted by broadcaster David McWilliams, will reflect on the political and cultural legacy 40 years on from 1968 - the high-watermark of 1960s counterculture - featuring some key figures from the era; the future of the Irish language and the state of the music industry. There will be readings from top Irish and international authors, Salon du Chat "speed-debating", comedy news quizshows and a series of special one-on-one interviews, including one with Henry Rollins. RTE's Ryan Tubridy will host a new Sunday Morning Show with guests taking a hungover and jaundiced view of the newspapers and chewing the fat from the night before. There will be politically-tinged music from Paddy Cullivan and the Camembert Quartet, Jinx Lennon, Captain Moonlight and White Cholera as well as other very special guests and we'll have a sneak preview of a brand new series of Langerland's satirical cartoons, taking in such subjects as the Irish language, the GAA, the IRA, the Gardaí and the Celtic Tiger. Also back is the The Word poetry tent….and much much more food for thought

'thisispopbaby'

There will also be more theatre such as new additions to the festival 'thisispopbaby', a fabulous new space, where debauched glamour, fairy tale excess and fun is the name of the game. Each day the glittering lounge will take you on a journey from a whimsical kitsch Never Never Land to a raw and raunchy Pop Art Palace. Featuring very special guest star Panti, Queen of the Picnic, this sparkling jewel of new pop-art and design culminates every night with a Frock 'n' Roll drag show and a down 'n' dirty PopClub. Our hosts and hostesses will meet, greet and sweet talk you in this bastion of high fashion, high camp and high excess. You're Alice baby, and this is Wonderland

Fossetts Circus

Fossetts Circus are also back, the longest running continuous circus in the world, to celebrate their 130th year in the business. And putting the Picnic into Electric is the addition of a Cooking Stage in the Spoken Word area... A Michelin-All-Star culinary cast headlined by Rachel Allen, Dylan McGrath (Mint), Kevin Thornton (Thorntons), Derry Clarke (L'Ecrivain) and more to be announced who will not only be doing cooking demonstrations in a purpose built kitchen tent, but debating whether life really is too short to stuff a mushroom in their exclusive Q&As

Hot Press Chat Room

Also back this year, by popular demand, is the Hot Press Chat Room which will feature intimate interviews with (and occasional impromptu sessions from!) some of the festival's biggest names. The public interviews are carried out by a crack team of Hot Press writers, including Stuart Clark, Peter Murphy, Paul Nolan and Roisin Dwyer, with fans also being afforded a rare chance to quiz their heroes. Among those who have already been given the Hot Press Chat Room treatment at Electric Picnic are New Order, Flaming Lips, Bloc Party, Primal Scream, Elbow, The Frames, Josh Ritter, The Undertones, Damien Dempsey and many more

The Southern Comfort Crawdaddy Stage

The Southern Comfort Crawdaddy Stage promises to draw out the Mardi Gras fever adding a touch of New Orleans style. The Bacardi B Live Arena also makes a welcome return, as ever showcasing the collaborative works of world class DJ's, musicians, live vocalists and percussionists

Temple of Truth

Sex Pistols

As with every year, the festival takes pride in showcasing the greatest music from around the world, iconic acts together with the hottest new acts. Acts this year range from; the first ever Irish show of one of the most legendary acts of the twentieth century, the incendiary Sex Pistols to the melodic, classical, experimental Sigur Rós, the Icelandic post-rock band known for its ethereal sound and lead singer Jónsi's falsetto voice. The Sex Pistols changed if not the history of rock then at least its course and the lineup consists of the original four members, John Lydon, Glen Matlock, Steve Jones and Paul Cook.

My Bloody Valentine

Another iconic and influential band playing a very rare show are My Bloody Valentine whose critically acclaimed 1991 album Loveless was recently voted as the greatest rock and roll album of all time in an Irish Times poll. This is their first show here in 17 years and one of only a handful of shows they are doing across the world this year

Franz Ferdinand

Scottish Indie rockers Franz Ferdinand unveil their eagerly anticipated third album with what is also one of a handful of shows they are playing globally this year

George Clinton

Funk legend George Clinton & his astonishing 30 piece P-Funk Allstars will be showing us a thing or two about how it's really done. One of the most important innovators of funk music, next to James Brown and Sly Stone, he has been a major influence in the world of hip hop and beyond