Electric Picnic and Fontaines D.C. events face ticket resale rules

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has designated Electric Picnic 2027 and Fontaines D.C. at Slane under the Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021, bringing the Act’s ticket-resale rules into force for both events from 2 September 2027. The designation is published in Iris Oifigiúil, Number 71, of Friday 4 September 2026.

The notice, issued by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, is made under section 9(6)(a) of the 2021 Act. That provision empowers the Minister to designate specific cultural, entertainment, recreational and sporting events, bringing them within the scope of the Act’s rules on the resale of tickets.

The 2021 Act was introduced to tackle ticket touting in Ireland, where tickets for high-demand events were routinely resold at many times their face value. By designating an event, the Minister extends the statutory protections to the tickets for that event, giving buyers a legal remedy against inflated resale and imposing obligations on those who resell. The designation is a formal step that triggers the application of the Act’s resale provisions to the named events.

The designated events

The Minister has named two major 2027 events:

• Electric Picnic, Stradbally Hall, Co. Laois: 27 to 29 August 2027
• Fontaines D.C. at Slane: 26 to 27 June 2027

Both events are among the most prominent on the Irish live-music calendar for 2027. Electric Picnic is held at Stradbally Hall in County Laois, while the Fontaines D.C. concert takes place at Slane, a venue long associated with large-scale outdoor shows.

When the rules take effect

The designation for the above events comes into effect on Wednesday 2 September 2027. From that date, the resale rules of the 2021 Act apply to tickets for these events, meaning that any resale must comply with the Act’s requirements. The effective date is set out in the notice published in the gazette.

Who is affected

The designation affects both ticket buyers and resellers. Under the Act, tickets for designated events may not be resold above face value, and resale platforms and sellers face obligations and potential penalties for breaches. Buyers who purchase tickets for these events are also given clearer rights, including the ability to challenge resales that do not comply with the law.

The move is part of a broader effort by the Department to apply the Act’s protections to the events most exposed to ticket touting, and it gives fans a clear legal basis to seek redress if they are overcharged.

For concertgoers and festival-goers, the designation means that tickets for two of Ireland’s most anticipated 2027 events will be protected from inflated resale, giving buyers greater confidence and curbing the secondary-market practices the Act was designed to address.

Source: Iris Oifigiúil, Number 71, 4 September 2026, notices, p. G-3 (official reference: Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021, s.9(6)(a)).