ELECTRIC PICNIC BOSS Melvin Benn has strongly defended the festival’s organisation and crowd safety provisions after a crowd collapse at a too-small venue on Friday night.

One festival goer who was there told The Journal it was “like a silent bomb blast, the most terrifying thing ever”.

Electric Picnic promoter responds after crowd collapse incident ahead of Armand van Helden DJ set at too small venue. pic.twitter.com/VdVMbcZGnm

— Valerie Flynn (@valerie_flynn) August 30, 2026

Others who were in the area on Friday night said the crowd was enormous, with too many people both trying to get in and get out of one of 80,000-capacity festival’s smaller venues ahead of iconic American DJ Armand van Helden’s set.

It comes after a second crowd control issue on Saturday night, when, in an unusual move, the festival sent multiple alerts via its app warning attendees not to approach the Electric Arena tent. This was packed out for English DJ Duke Dumont.

The festival sent mobile phone updates to punters asking them not to go to the Electric Arena at one point on Saturday night.

The crowd outside the tent was several rows deep by about halfway through Duke’s set. When The Journal was there the area was crowded but did not feel unsafe, with people milling about, chatting and dancing. 

Asked by a local newspaper reporter at a press conference this afternoon about whether crowd control improvements were needed at the festival, which has increased its capacity by 15% since 2023, Benn initially denied there was any issue.

The Festival Republic managing director told the press: “Quite frankly, I don’t think it could have gone better.”

Large crowds outside the packed-out tent for DJ Duke Dumont on Saturday night. Valerie Flynn / The Journal Valerie Flynn / The Journal / The Journal

He said that while the tent for Duke Dumont was full, punters were respectful and there was “no real drama”, so suggesting improvements were needed was “bonkers”.

When The Journal read out the experience of one woman who was caught up in the dangerous incident ahead of Armand van Helden on Friday, Benn said: “We stopped it immediately as soon as we could see a crowd collapse.”

Festival-goer Aoife McKenna told us she and her friends were to the left of the stage near the bar, and it was “total mayhem” as more and more people pushed in ahead of Armand’s set.

“Something happened in the middle and the crowd fell over in a split second all landing on top of each other. Then to make matters worse, the crowd kept coming from outside in,” McKenna said.

The Smirnoff stage pictured on Saturday afternoon. Valerie Flynn / The Journal Valerie Flynn / The Journal / The Journal

Benn said in response this afternoon: “We stopped it immediately, as soon as we could see a crowd collapse.”

Sometimes a crowd is full and doesn’t collapse, and there was no crowd collapse on any other stage at any other time.

“I don’t know why the crowd collapsed at that point, but the moment that it did, we stopped it. We had medics there. We had security there, and we stopped Armand van Helden going on stage. He hadn’t even got on stage at that point in time.”

People who were in the area said there were announcements over speakers and on screens about the cancellation.

Asked whether the festival needed to consider bigger venues for dance and electronic music – given how many attendees have come for the big-name DJs, more so than the singers and bands headlining the main stage – Benn insisted the festival was “in a really good place in terms of how we handle crowds”.

Electric Picnic’s diverse line-up and all-ages crowd means that while many attendees come for rock bands such as Fontaines DC, who headline the main stage tonight, for others the festival is all about dance music.