When the mass exodus from Stradbally in County Laois begins on Monday morning, the trail of drunken mistakes and pools of vomit will grow into a future home for students coming to Dublin this academic year. The organisers of this year’s Electric Picnic have announced that they will give the tents left behind by festival goers to students who are finding it near impossible to get accommodation in the country’s capital city.
The idea began after a group of Trinity students said they will camp out on the cricket fields for the coming academic year because they have not been able to obtain accommodation near the college. The organisers heard about this and felt that instead of dumping the tents in an alleyway beside a pub, it would be in the interest of everyone if they gave them to the students.
A spokesperson for Electric Picnic said, “Normally we pile the tents together and burn them while having a few of the leftover cans of Dutch Gold. This causes a bit of a stir with local residents though because the fumes can be quite strong. That is why it would be nice to see the tents be put to good use rather than destroying them. Personally, I wouldn’t sleep in one of these tents. About 80% of them are soaked with semen and the other 20% have the floor lined with faeces because toilet paper is a scarce commodity on the festival grounds.”
The Union of Students in Ireland have praised the organisers for the generosity and hope that more businesses follow their example. Their president said, “Look it’s great for students that this has been set up and it also means less work for us which is always welcomed”.
The tents will be distributed by Electric Picnic through a ‘Like & Share’ competition on their Facebook page, once the event is over.