Electric Picnic designated under Ireland's ticket resale law

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has designated Electric Picnic under the Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021, bringing the festival’s ticket resale under the restrictions of the law. The designation, published in Iris Oifigiúil No. 70 of Tuesday 1 September 2026, takes effect on Thursday 27 August 2026.

The notice, issued by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, applies to the festival held at Stradbally Hall, Co. Laois, from 28 to 30 August 2026. It was made under section 9(6)(a) of the Act, the provision that allows the Minister to designate specific events for the purposes of the ticket-resale regime.

What the designation means

Under the Sale of Tickets Act 2021, once an event is designated, tickets for it may only be resold through the event organiser or an authorised secondary-ticket platform. The measure is designed to curb ticket touting and the resale of tickets at inflated prices above their face value.

For Electric Picnic, the practical effect is that attendees seeking to sell or buy tickets must do so through channels authorised by the festival’s organisers, rather than through unregulated resale sites. The designation covers the full three-day run of the event.

Official publication

The designation was announced through a formal notice in the official State gazette, alongside other instruments published in the same edition, including new court rules and regulations on restrictive measures concerning Iran.

• Event: Electric Picnic, Stradbally Hall, Co. Laois
• Dates: 28 to 30 August 2026
• Designation effective: Thursday 27 August 2026
• Legal basis: section 9(6)(a), Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021
• Issuing body: Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment

Impact for attendees

For festival-goers, the designation means that any resale of Electric Picnic tickets must comply with the Act’s rules, protecting buyers from paying above face value and from purchasing invalid or duplicated tickets. Secondary-ticket platforms operating in Ireland are likewise bound by the restrictions for designated events.

The move reflects the wider application of the 2021 Act, which was introduced to give consumers greater protection in the secondary ticket market and to give event organisers more control over how their tickets are distributed and resold.

Source: Iris Oifigiúil, No. 70, 1 September 2026, Notices (official reference: Notice of Designation under the Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021).