- Music
- 16 Aug 16
Pack your trunks if you're headed to Stradbally this year
Team HP knew it probably wasn't alone in staying up until silly o'clock watching the swimming throughout the Olympics, but we can't say we saw this one coming.
Electric Picnic have announced the addition of a lakeside swimming area at this year's festival, smack bang in the middle of the gorgeous Stradbally Hall estate.
According to a press release, the area is steeped in history. The course of the Crooked River was moved to power a mill on the land of Stradbally Hall by monks from the local Franciscan Monastery during the late 15th century. The manmade lake was then created by the ancestral owners of Stradbally Hall: the Cosby family during the early 18th century. Since then it has been maintained by the family, including a memorable excavation during the 1870s when a hundred men with a hundred wheelbarrows who worked in the Malting factory from Stradbally town manually dredged the lake.
And yes, before you ask, there'll be a team of lifeguards on hand to make sure everything goes, er, swimmingly.
To reach The Lake, follow the signposted riverside path leading from the Jimi Hendrix Campsite area – get practicing that breaststroke!