The festival was launched on 15 April 2009 and featured performances from artists such as Orbital, The Flaming Lips, Brian Wilson, Basement Jaxx, Madness, Klaxons, Bell X1, Fleet Foxes and MGMT.
[8] Amongst the first acts announced were Orbital, The Flaming Lips, Basement Jaxx, Madness, Klaxons, Bell X1, Fleet Foxes and MGMT.
[12][13] Also appearing were Seasick Steve, 2 Many DJs, Jape, Lisa Hannigan, Damien Dempsey, Alabama 3, Bat for Lashes, Imelda May, Echo & the Bunnymen, Magazine, Halfset and Villagers.
[16] Brian Wilson, Röyksopp, Amadou & Mariam, The Wailers, Fionn Regan, Mundy, James Murphy and Pat Mahoney of LCD Soundsystem, A Flock of Seagulls, Bell Orchestre, The Field, Jeffrey Lewis, Marina and the Diamonds and Richmond Fontaine were announced on 13 May 2009.
[19] The Stradbally Laughs line-up was announced on 16 July 2009 and included Sean Hughes, Phil Nichol, Brendon Burns, Gavin Webster, Kevin Bridges, Joe Rooney, Eric Lalor, Andrew Stanley, Damien Clarke, Dead Cat Bounce and Steve Frost's Impro All-Stars featuring Andy Smart, Steve Steen, Richard Vrench and Ian Coppinger.
These included Florence and the Machine, Baaba Maal, The Duckworth Lewis Method, Mick Flannery, The Big Pink, Nightmares on Wax Soundsystem, Laura Izibor, Two Door Cinema Club, Blitzen Trapper, Wave Machines, Peter Broderick, Cap Pas Cap and Stee Downes.
[22] On 30 July, more acts were announced, including Beach House, Blindfold, The Soundcarriers, Amorphous Androgynous, Golden Animals, the Tulla Céilí Band and Lamb.
[29] The first additions to the line-up for the fifth Hot Press Chatroom to occur at Electric Picnic were Bell X1, Damien Dempsey, ABC's Martin Fry, Dinosaur Jr., The Duckworth Lewis Method, Richmond Fontaine, The Sugarhill Gang and The Wailers.
And God, Olaf might have more to say about that than me, but... You know, whatever, I'm not here to hound anybody, but these people come up to me afterwards…"[37] The audience, however, appeared to enjoy the jokes and clapped and cheered as Tiernan referred to Jews as "fucking Christ-killing bastards" and said he would have "got 10 or 12 million" of them during the Holocaust.
[37] Fine Gael's Jewish TD Alan Shatter said afterwards: "I would regard it as particularly sad that people found that sort of outburst in any way amusing".
[38] Tiernan, speaking through the Hot Press website in a statement later published in the magazine, said he was "quite bewildered" and "greatly upset by the thought that these comments have caused hurt to others as this was never my intention".
[15] The Mindfield Arena was launched on 23 June 2009, with the Leviathan Political Cabaret, due to be MC'ed by David McWilliams, returning for a fourth year, the Mindfield All-Star News Quiz being hosted by Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow, an appearance by Ryan Tubridy and The Word's house band The Aftermath.
[47] The Arts Council Literary Stage featured Julie Feeney, Mundy, Tommy Tiernan and Florence Welsh who each read works by writers who inspired them.
It featured author Irvine Welsh, Richie Egan from Jape and Stradbally Hall's owner Thomas Cosby.
[2] In the week leading up to Electric Picnic, gardaí seized over €100,000 of illegal drugs, €5,000 cash and three people following a raid in Boyle, County Roscommon.
[48] Following the festival, gardaí sought assistance from the general public as to the whereabouts of a 19-year-old man from Tramore, County Waterford, who had last been seen in the Electric Picnic campsite.