Body and Soul Solstice Gathering this weekend

The first ever Body and Soul festival is gearing up to take off this weekend, with superb weather forecasted for the next few days.

The Body and Soul Solstice Gathering 2010 has essentially relocated the beating heart of the Stradbally based Electric Picnic extravaganza to Ballinlough Castle in Co. Meath for the weekend, with Four Tet, !!! (CHK CHK CHK), Jape, R.S.A.G and Tuung, among many, many others, set to provide a superb soundtrack to the festival.

The full line-up for the main stage is listed below, but, like its older Picnic-brother, the Body and Soul solstice festival features a veritable cornucopia of events, music and otherwise, including - I am led to believe - "acoustic jams, impromptu parties, wood-fired hot tubs, winding paths through delicious food stalls, holistic arts, a secluded soul kids garden, a masquerade ball with a moonlit orchestra, and bonfires under the stars".

The closing ceremony on Sunday will also feature a night-time extravaganza celebrating the theme of this year’s Summer Solstice: Phoenix Rising, and those present can expect Pyrotechnic/Pyro-Performance pieces around Sun Discs, fireworks and some other fire-fantastical elements.

A full line-up of events is available here.

Ballinlough Castle is nestled between the towns of Athboy and Clonmellon, Co. Meath. On the N52 (Kells to Mullingar Road) 3 miles south of Clonmellon and 4 miles west of Athboy.

Saturday's line-up/times:

12:15 - 2am - Gaudi
10:45-12:00am - Four Tet
9:15 - 10:15pm - Jape
8:00 - 8:45pm - Crystal Fighters
6:15 - 7:15pm - Voice of the Seven Thunders
4:30 - 5:30pm - Broken Records
3:00 - 3:45pm - Wiggle
2:00 - 2:30pm - Chequerboard
1:00 - 1:30pm - Patrick Kelleher & Cold Dead Hands
12 - 12:30pm - Jennifer Evans
11:00 - 11:30am - Imogen Gunner & the Imo band

Sunday:

1:00 -2am - RSAG
11:15-12:30am - !!! (Chk Chk Chk)
9:30 - 10:30pm - Blue King Brown
7:45 - 8:45pm - Tunng
5:40 - 7:15pm - Donal Dineen, Niwel Tsumbu & guests
4:25 - 5:10pm - Kormac's Big Band
3:15 - 3:55pm - The Egg
2:00 - 2:40pm - Katie Kim
1:00 - 1:30pm - Eoin Duignan
12 - 12:30pm - Colette
10:30-11:30am - Dr Alex Paterson

A limited number of tickets are still available and are available here. Gates open at 9am on Saturday. For more see here. Enjoy!

Early Bird Tickets For Electric Picnic Now Sold-Out

The last of the early bird tickets for Electric Picnic are now sold-out, apparently snapped up this morning. They were available for €199 ahead of the full release and line-up announcement, which takes place next Wednesday (woo!) - and the full price tickets will be available for sale on Friday, March 26.
The full line-up will be revealed here next Wednesday, so be sure and check-in..

However, those lovely people behind the Body and Soul area at Electric Picnic have announced that they are to hold their own festival in June in Co. Meath - which sounds fab, and we will be there with bells on. For more info, see below..

THE ORGANISERS of the Body and Soul area at the Electric Picnic festival in Stradbally - quite literally the beating heart of the festival - have decided to host a ‘special gathering’ to celebrate the summer solstice in June. The Body and Soul Solstice Gathering will take place in the beautiful surrounds of Ballinlough Castle, Co. Meath on June 19-20, and with capacity capped at 1,500 and camping available, promises to be an intimate event.
The line-up is good too, featuring Four Tet, Jape, !!! (aka Chk Chk Chk) Dr Alex Paterson, Crystal Fighters, Voice of the Seven Thunders, Gaudi, Kormac’s Big Band, and many more to be announced.
There will also be electronic acts, street theatre, acoustic jams, a healing area, a permaculture garden, a soul kids area, visual arts, workshops, hot tubs, late night cabarets and a masquerade ball with a moon lit orchestra under the stars, according to the organisers. The festival will finish with a “fire ceremony in tribute to the festival theme Phoenix Rising”.
Tickets for the festival went on sale last Saturday at the early bird price of €99. For more see here.

Body and Soul line-up for Electric Picnic

This is getting better and better.. The line-up for the Body and Soul arena for EP '09 includes the likes of Four Tet, Dan Deacon (solo show), J Tillman (of Fleet Foxes fame), Villagers, 3epkano, Charlie Parr, Roots Union, Chequerboard, Niwel Tsumbu, Lamb - and many, many more..

On the Beat can't see anything else for it, but to set up in the Body and Soul for the weekend and completely ignore everything else that is happening.

Here is the line-up in full, lifted from Mr Jim Carroll's fine blog (thanks Jim!):

Friday
Donal Dineen and guests, Kormac’s Big Band, Blindfold, Katie Kim, Villagers, Funzo, Colin Devlin

Saturday
Tulla Ceili Band, Four Tet, Tunng, Lamb, 3epkano, Wiggle, Niwel Tsumbu, Tiny Vipers, Island Line, Ohbijou, Kill Krinkle Club, Chequerboard

Sunday
Estas Tonne featuring Ise, Beach House, Amorphous Androgenous, The Sound Carriers, Golden Animals, Dan Deacon (solo show), Charlie Parr, Roots Union, J. Tillman, First Aid Kit, Baah Band, Chequerboard (DJ set)