LIVE: Gardaí arrest a number of people for driving under the influence at Electric Picnic

Gardaí have arrested a number of motorists for driving under the influence in and around the Electric Picnic festival in Laois yesterday, August 29.  

In total, four drivers were arrested after failing roadside tests on Friday and gardaí are again warning people not to drive under the influence of drink or drugs. 

They are advising people that they will be conducting checkpoints throughout the festival targeting drug and drink driving. 

Meanwhile, Gardaí have confirmed that traffic is flowing freely to and from the site today, saying the traffic plan is working well and there are no issues with car parks. 

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Separately, Gardaí are urging festivalgoers to be careful after dangerous drugs were detected by the HSE’s testers onsite. 

The HSE has issued an alert on Friday night due to extremely potent MDMA tablets circulating at the Electric Picnic. 

They say the “high strength MDMA pills” at Electric Picnic pose “extreme risk” and contain up to 300mg - or three times the adult dose.

⚠️HSE drug alert ⚠️

High Strength MDMA pills at Electric Picnic pose extreme risk.

Containing up to 300mg - 3 times the adult dose.
It’s safer not to use drugs at all. You can never be sure of the contents or purity.@EPfestival #StartLowGoSlow #ElectricPicnic pic.twitter.com/fISVWomVg7

— HSE Drugs.ie (@drugsdotie) August 29, 2025

“It’s safer not to use drugs at all. You can never be sure of the contents or purity,” the HSE warned.

The tablets circulating at the Electric Picnic were found to be more potent than any pills detected at the event in the past three years. 

Under the tagline, ‘start slow, go slow,’ the HSE warned festivalgoers that it was safer not to use drugs at all but said if people were using they should be careful.