“Did they make you park feckin’ ages away?” a wide-eyed young woman in a pink tutu asks, grabbing my shoulders in disbelief as we trek to find a place to pitch our tents at All Together Now. The distance from car to camp might be less gruelling than at Electric Picnic, but shouldering bags stuffed with tins through rolling fields can be the hardest part of the weekend. (Except, of course, for when you have to lug your belongings back again at the end of the festival, achingly worse for wear and burdened with a socially unacceptable level of hygiene.)
Poncho-wearing revellers are battling an obstacle course of rocks and bumpy trails towards the ticket barricades, a healthy mix of encouragement and borderline verbal abuse being hurled at friends from over the railings as the battle rages to pitch a tent before the bad weather starts. “Tell them to feck off unless they’re going to help us,” one man carrying well over the 24-can limit mutters into his phone, wanting zero company unless it involves muscle.
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More than 25,000 people are expected to descend on the Curraghmore estate, in Co Waterford, this weekend for the three days of the fifth All Together Now, and the campsites are already staggeringly busy by Friday morning. The festival says a mammoth swathe of ticket-holders arrived on Thursday to set up camp, crack open the cans and prop up the camping chairs before today’s madness.
There’s plenty of excited chatter about the headliners. Illness has forced Róisín Murphy, Saturday’s main act, to pull out, but it’s still a packed three days, with Jorja Smith, James Vincent McMorrow, The National, The Prodigy and Future Islands topping the bill, plus international and Irish talents such as Confidence Man, The Mary Wallopers, The Scratch, Sprints and Barry Can’t Swim.
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In the soon-to-be-packed arena, the downfall is beginning – but smiles remain plastered on punters’ defiant faces. “I can’t wait for Jorja Smith,” 26-year-old Caoimhe says, pulling on her orange raincoat. “It’s the first time I’ve come down to All Together Now. I’ve just heard such great things.”
“I’m here for Barry Can’t Swim,” her friend Laura adds, grinning. The Scottish DJ, aka Joshua Mainnie, has seen his popularity explode in the last year, resulting in an enormous turnout for his Glastonbury set in June. His appearance at All Together Now is likely to draw similar crowds.
For a beaming group of women celebrating a 30th birthday, there’s only one name on their lips: Natasha Bedingfield. “Unwritten was my secondary-school graduation song,” one of them says, as though it was only yesterday. “I love the nostalgia she’s going to bring,” her friend adds. “I was here for the Sugababes at All Together Now last year, and it was such a highlight. Whoever booked her, thank you!”
As Maniac 2000 – a true indicator of an Irish festival – rings out around the campsite, there’s a noticeable mixture of kids, young adults and seasoned veterans. As a proud dad wheels a trolley containing Leia, his two-year-old daughter, in noise-blocking headphones, a gaggle of teenage boys nearby dance around a Mr Worldwide Pitbull flag, techno blaring from their speakers. The lads tip imaginary hats to the toddler as she rolls past, a mini red-carpet celebrity.
If the atmosphere so far is anything to go by, the 2024 edition of All Together Now will be crammed with wholesome moments, euphoric music and our trademark sense of humour.
