[2][3] Drummer Jeremy Gara also admitted it was their first major show since the band's Neon Bible tour and was awestruck at the idea of performing on the Main Stage directly after Jay-Z.

[10] In a later article in the newspaper he named his "10 must-see acts on his Oxegen timetable with a big, fat yellow highlighter": Jay-Z, Arcade Fire, The Prodigy, Florence & The Machine, Vampire Weekend, Cathy Davey, Julian Casablancas, Laura Marling, Hot Chip and Tinariwen.

[11] Tony Clayton-Lea, writing in the same publication, suggested 10 upcoming acts for readers to see: Kassidy, Lissie, Two Door Cinema Club, Kids in Glass Houses, Ellie Goulding, Daisy Dares You, Professor Green, General Fiasco, Example and Cécile.

[19] On 23 February 2010, the first acts of the Oxegen 2010 line-up were announced, including Eminem, Muse, Jay-Z, The Black Eyed Peas, Kasabian, The Prodigy, Florence and the Machine, Paolo Nutini, Faithless, Stereophonics, David Guetta, Vampire Weekend, Mumford and Sons, John Mayer, Hot Chip, Calvin Harris, Newton Faulkner, Gossip, The Temper Trap, Empire of the Sun, Goldfrapp, La Roux, Wolfmother, Rise Against, The Coral, Broken Social Scene, Ellie Goulding, Two Door Cinema Club, Armand Van Helden, Steve Angello, Simian Mobile Disco, Erol Alkan, Steve Aoki, A-Trak and Aeroplane.

[25] On 30 March 2010, further artists were announced: Dizzee Rascal, Laura Marling, Diana Vickers, Earth Wind & Fire, The Black Keys, Julian Casablancas, The Cribs, Chase & Status, The Stranglers and Fox Avenue.

[29] On 21 April 2010, the Red Bull Music Academy's return was confirmed, with The Drums, Broken Social Scene, Delphic, Dirty Projectors, Gabriella Cilmi, Chipmunk, Tinie Tempah and Wild Beasts among the acts scheduled to perform there.

[31] Later that night[32] Bell X1 and Kate Nash were officially announced alongside eleven more acts: Doves, Editors, Scouting for Girls, Ocean Colour Scene, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Courteeners, Joshua Radin, Airbourne, The Coronas, Republic of Loose and The Middle East.

[33][34] On 19 May 2010, the return of the Hot Press signing tent and the line-up for the Hot Press Academy Stage were announced; new acts included Ash, We Are Scientists, Kele Okereke, Cathy Davey, Villagers, Wallis Bird, Mystery Jets, Shed Seven, Diana Vickers and 3OH!3.

On 3 June 2010, the final stage line-up for the Red Bull Music Academy was confirmed, with the addition of Darwin Deez and The Minutes.

[40] In second week of June several more acts were added on oxegen.ie: Vitalic, Fake Blood, Louis La Roche, Fred Falke, Jesse Rose, The Golden Filter, Popof, Primary 1, DJ Villa, French Horn Rebellion, Bitches with Wolves, Ou Est, Amasis, Dublin Streets, Al Gibbs, Vogue and DJ Gordo.

[41][42] On 18 June 2010, Choice Prize-shortlisted indie-electro band Codes confirmed on The Rick O'Shea Show that they would be appearing on Friday 9th.

[46] Platform V. Oxegen Battle of the Bands took place for the fourth year, with the closing date for entries being 30 April 2010.

[48] The Irish Times's Tony Clayton-Lea compared prices of T-shirt merchandising by some of the acts ahead of the festival.

[54] Around two dozen volunteers cycled 30 kilometres from Terenure College to Punchestown in aid of the Christina Noble Foundation, including Ireland national rugby union team members Jamie Heaslip and Cian Healy.

[55][56] Fancy Dress Friday also occurred for the first time, with festival goers being encouraged to don costumes of their own choosing.

[61] Arcade Fire's Win Butler poured a large bottle of water onto his own head and yelled at the crowd: "Look, now we’re all the same".

[55][56][67] Jay-Z arrived on stage after a 30-minute delay and drew a positive response when he referred to 2009 comments by Noel Gallagher: "That bloke from Oasis said I couldn’t play guitar, someone should have told them I'm a fucking rock star".

[64] Jim Carroll of The Irish Times dismissed Arcade Fire's Main Stage headlining performance as a "Friday night flop".

[68] Rosemary Mac Cabe, in the same publication, praised the performance of Empire of the Sun, saying "Facepaint, masks and pantomime-style dancers were mere embellishments to standout beats and choruses – and lead vocalist Luke Steele gave us something to talk about by breaking his guitar and throwing the pieces into the outstretched hands of an awestruck crowd".

[69] Jennifer Aniston's former boyfriend John Mayer was forced to cancel due to an undisclosed illness, resulting in the promotion of Two Door Cinema Club to the Main Stage.

[62] Muse began their Main Stage headlining performance with one of their most well-known songs "Plug In Baby" in the hope that it would delight the drenched crowd.

[62] The 2010 FIFA World Cup Final was broadcast on a 100 metres squared screen by the Nokia Live Stage on the Sunday night.

[62] Eminem headlined the Main Stage on the Sunday night of the festival,[71] dressed in black and white clothing, and performing new and old songs.

On Friday there were appearances from Eliza Doolittle,[74] Delorentos,[74] Codes,[75] Darwin Deez,[76] Villagers,[74] and Tinie Tempah.

[55] He jetted into Dublin, asking that his dressing room be filled with red wine, a selection of spirits, tequila shots and cigars.

[81] Rugby players Jamie Heaslip, Luke Fitzgerald, Tommy Bowe and Cian Healy were invited onto the stage to create extra noise during the final song by Mumford & Sons, called "The Cave".

[95] This marked a change from previous years, when campers had to depart at an earlier time on the Monday, with the festival's organisers commenting: "We would rather people be rested, sober and in a position where they are capable of driving home safely".

[96] The Irish Times said the blue campsite "resembled a landfill this morning [Monday] with items such as mud coated air mattresses, collapsed tents, barbecues, wellies and panties abandoned by weekend revellers".