As concerns grow about drug and alcohol use at Ireland’s largest music festival, Electric Picnic organisers condemn drug use and promote safety. HSE testing data paints a complicated picture of what substances are circulating and what festival-goers could be consuming.
The strongest MDMA pill ever recorded in Ireland was tested at the on-site testing facility, prompting major concern for the attendees of the festival: Professor Eamon Keenan, HSE National Clinical Lead for Addiction Services, stated, “The MDMA was stronger, and the identification of a pill of 312mg prompted the HSE to issue a public health alert.”
This summer’s Electric Picnic had a record high number of submissions; 110 drug samples were handed over to the HSE’s anonymous drug-checking service.
The HSE has warned that the drug market has become increasingly unpredictable, for example, MDMA samples ranged from 0mg to over 300mg in potency this year. Professor Keenan explained that over 300mg of pure MDMA is more than three times the average adult dose, which is extremely dangerous and potentially fatal. This year, two out of five MDMA pills tested by the HSE contained over 200mg of MDMA. Pills could look the same but have different doses, meaning that two people could take what they believe is the same pill and have completely different experiences. The HSE has stated that they are concerned about the strengths of crystals and powders. It is becoming increasingly popular for people to mix these with drinks, especially alcohol, which can increase the risk of a drug emergency.
When people use drug testing services, the HSE can identify risky substances circulating at events and issue appropriate risk communication to attendees. The HSE also uses events such as music festivals to monitor the drug market in terms of substances being used and identify any new emerging trends. Festival-goers can visit the testing sites, which operate out of large tents, to submit a sample of their drugs for testing. Users of the service will not receive a personal result, but if a substance of concern is discovered, an alert is sent through the Electric Picnic app and displayed on large signs around the festival, warning attendees about the discovery.
A volunteer stationed at the testing tent near the main stage believed that many festival-goers choose not to have their drugs tested in fear that, after leaving the tent, a covert Garda would stop them. She wanted to reassure people who are thinking of getting their drugs tested that they will not be targeted by the Gardai. Professor Keenan said that people are becoming more comfortable in engaging with the HSE Drugs, i.e., volunteers, and there were over a hundred interactions over the course of the festival, but people remain wary about submitting samples for analysis. He noticed that this year, a positive trend, a lot of festival-goer volunteers engaged with were aware of the harm reduction advice and responded appropriately. Such as staying hydrated, not mixing drugs/mixing drugs with alcohol and “start low, go slow.” Electric Picnic states on its website that if a festivalgoer is found to be dealing drugs, they will be handed over to An Garda Síochána. Covert Gardai and security on site, and drug enforcement laws are applicable onsite, so the use, purchasing or selling of drugs is illegal.
The HSE Safer Nightlife Programme, which operated the anonymous ‘back of house’ drug testing, is the only Irish project using drug testing samples to inform harm reduction interventions. The program operated at both Electric Picnic and District X, a daytime dance and electronic music festival in September. In total, over 176 drug samples were submitted from festival-goers across both events, helping to identify emerging drug trends and issue real-time public health alerts. Hundreds of interventions were provided each day at the two events, with over 28 hours of outreach available to attendees. The same batch of MDMA pills was then identified at District X and found to contain over 314mg of MDMA. The HSE issued public health alerts at both events because of this. The trajectory of this market could lead to increased issues in community and hospital settings.
A young woman (20), who attended District X, said she found the experience to be easy and not at all intimidating. She explained that the female volunteer who took her and her friends’ samples was very accommodating and approachable. Due to the anonymous nature of the drug testing, there is no way to know if your sample is dangerous unless an alert is uploaded through the app and displayed on screens. The young woman said the volunteer told her that if she returned in a few hours, she would remember how she looked and let her know if her sample was dangerous, but still strongly suggested not to do drugs, as there is no safe way to do so.
In Australia, this will be the first year that the Beyond the Valley music festival in Victoria will implement drug sample testing. The festival spans four days, from December 28th to January 1st, with about 35,000 festival-goers in attendance. The introduction of this service received large support from the public, because in the first three months of this year, more overdoses were recorded at music festivals than there were in total in 2024. Previously at Beyond the Valley, festival-goers could pay $35 AUD to be drug tested to find out if they tested positive for illegal substances. Female (21) used the service as she was the designated driver in her group and wished to confirm she was safe to drive. She described her experience as straightforward, having to give only her first name and the first initial of her last name for identification, and she only waited about 20 minutes before being called on by a volunteer to receive her results.
Drug testing at Electric Picnic has been an asset to the HSE when learning about the drug market in Ireland. In 2022, testing at the festival discovered substances that had not been detected in Ireland before. In 2024, high-strength MDMA pills found at the festival caused medical emergencies, including fits. Second to MDMA, ketamine is commonly reported as a main drug of choice at festivals, which is currently a concern for health care providers due to the risk of dependency and bladder issues associated with frequent and long-term use. Some novel drugs were identified, with the drug 2-CB, a synthetic psychedelic and stimulant drug, increasing in use. Synthetic cannabinoids remain a prevalent issue, and the HSE are aware of the problems associated with the use of the semi-synthetic HHC that the Government controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act in July of this year.
While the HSE strongly recommend people not take illegal substances, as there is no safe way to partake in drug use, they acknowledge that drug use is an inevitable element of festivals. The main drugs identified this year were cocaine, MDMA and ketamine. Professor Keenan explained that this aligns with drug trends found throughout the year. This year, the HSE found trends of higher strength MDMA use, increasing Ketamine use and ongoing use of cocaine.