Electric Picnic boss Melvin Benn responds after crowd collapse, flooding and capacity issues at Irish festival

Electric Picnic boss Melvin Benn has defended the festival’s safety measures after a crowd collapse, flooding and capacity issues at this weekend’s event. READ MORE: Reading & Leeds boss talks biggest-ever arena overhaul and “strength of UK and Irish music” on line-up: “We’re buzzing with ideas for the future” The sold-out festival returned to Stradbally Hall in County Laois this weekend (August 28–30), welcoming approximately 80,000 attendees. Lewis Capaldi, Gorillaz and Fontaines D.C. were booked to headline the three nights. The first crowd incident occurred on Friday evening ahead of Armand Van Helden’s scheduled 90-minute performance on the Smirnoff stage. Large numbers of people flocked to the arena as he was due to start, with festivalgoers hitting a logjam as people also tried to leave the area at the same time. One attendee told The Journal that the resulting crowd collapse felt “like a silent bomb blast, the most terrifying thing ever”. Another festivalgoer, Aoife McKenna, described the scene as “total mayhem”, saying people suddenly fell on top of one another while more attendees continued to arrive from outside the area. Van Helden’s performance was cancelled before...