Electric Picnic coverage is brought to you in association with Ramsbottom’s Portlaoise
The members of Stradbally Community Choir are now just days away from their milestone appearance at Ireland’s biggest music and arts festival – Electric Picnic 2025.
Inspired by the Laois Community Choir in Portlaoise, members of the community in Stradbally began to formulate an idea to form their own choir just one year ago; little did they know the meteoric heights that were to come.
The Choir’s Conductor and Director, Sinead Moran, remembers hoping for a turnout of around 20 people for the first night of practice – only for more than 80 people to turn up.
It was standing room only in Sacred Heart Church, Stradbally, when the choir performed their first concert last Christmas, playing songs such as ‘Dreams’ by The Cranberries, ‘From Now On’ from The Greatest Showman and ‘The Town I Loved So Well’.
“The atmosphere was incredible,” Ms Moran said. “We were all so nervous, and as soon as we started to sing it became very emotional – churches are very emotional places anyway.
“Half of us cried. Just to have our families there, loads of friends – we were packed to the rafters – it was absolutely brilliant.”
Since then they have gone from strength to strength, performing at Timahoe’s Got Talent, the Greenfields Festival in Athy and a recent show in Kavanagh’s Portlaoise in aid of Kolbe Special School.
Sinead is hopeful that these experiences will lend themselves to the Choir’s imminent appearance at Electric Picnic.
“We’re going to have woeful notions,” the conductor/director laughed.
“Like anybody, if you want to perform (at Electric Picnic) you send in a couple of emails and videos. (The organisers) saw our videos, showed them to Melvin Benn, and he said ‘yes’.”
The Stradbally Community Choir is scheduled to perform on the Hazelwood stage on Sunday afternoon, with a time-slot of 50 minutes.
Previous performances have seen a vast array of songs across a multitude of genres, from modern rock and pop to Irish trad to songs from musicals, with the choir choosing their songs based on an open suggestion box.
“We take on board all the different suggestions,” Sinead said. “And then we always consult with our musicians – what they are able to play and the instruments that they have.
“There’s 80-odd singers in the group, but our musicians are our backbone; we wouldn’t have a choir if it wasn’t for them.”
The choir are practicing twice a week in preparation for their maiden performance at the Picnic and have cooked up a tantalising set list.
Some of the songs due to be performed will be from artists such as Queen, Elvis, Bon Jovi, The Cranberries and much more.
They will be mixed in with an array of traditional Irish songs as well as a few “crowd pleasers – the songs that get the crowd going at the end of a night.”
There will also be a special guest appearance on the day from Dublin singer Mick McLoughlin who will play a few songs alongside the choir.
The group is comprised of a concoction of all ages, with their youngest member yet to reach his 20th birthday while at the other end of the scale is a member who recently celebrated his 80th birthday.
The choir currently consists of 11 musicians and more than 80 singers, but they remain on the look-out for new recruits.
“We’re still looking for men,” Sinead said. “We have a waiting list for women, but we’re still looking for men.
“The men are a bit shy, but of course they’re completely outnumbered by the amount of women we have.
“In general the men wouldn’t have had a whole lot of confidence, so we tried to give them parts in songs where they’re singing on their own – showcase them a little bit – and they’ve come on so, so much, they really have.”
SEE ALSO – Proud parents Siobhan and Noel all set to support daughter Katelyn in the Rose of Tralee
