THE CURE; SIGUR RÓS; ELBOW; GRIZZLY BEAR; ORBITAL; CHRISTY MOORE; THE ROOTS; HOT CHIP; GLEN HANSARD; THE XX; METRONOMY; THE HORRORS; AZEALIA BANKS; ROOTS MANUVA; BELL X1; STAFF BENDA BILILI; MILAGRES; ED SHEERAN; ALABAMA SHAKES; CRANES; LITTLE ROY; JOHN DIGWEED; LAND LOVERS; BAXTER DURY; JONATHAN WILSON; SOLAR BEARS; FATOUMATA DIAWARA; WILLIS EARL BEAL; LANTERNS ON THE LAKE....

To learn additional details about this year's Electric Picnic, such as details on the stages and areas within the festival, visit here.

Photos from the press launch can be seen here!

These are just some of the names announced for this year's Electric Picnic, which will be held at its usual home in Stradbally from 31st August to 2nd September. It's an eclectic collection of names, featuring some festival veterans as well as some new, exciting faces who have the ability to hugely impact the musical landscape over the next few years.

Sigur Ros, The xx, Roots Manuva and Glen Hansard (well, The Frames) are all recent Picnic alumni and their returns bring an air of reassuring nostalgia to the festival.

Following the rapturous acclaim that greeted their 2011 Bestival appearance and Royal Albert Hall 'Reflections' show, THE CURE – Robert Smith (Voice & Guitar), Simon Gallup (Bass), Jason Cooper (Drums) and Roger O'Donnell (Keyboards) - will play a 2 hours plus set of songs drawn from all 14 of their studio albums.

Speaking of this year's festival, the good folk behind Electric Picnic said: "Over the last eight years Electric Picnic has established itself as a melting pot of fine music, art, comedy, spoken word and so much more - a liquorice all sorts of festivals. This year won’t be any different... another infusion of colour, vibrancy, sparkle and mischief is on the way. We wave our festival flags gaily in the face of current doom and gloom and blithely commence our countdown to Electric Picnic 2012 by revealing the first acts who will be bestowing the soundtrack in Stradbally over three days at the end of the summer. Come, merge yourself with the Electric Picnic experience." We couldn't have put it better ourselves.

Returning areas include Body & Soul, Mindfield, Global Green, The Salty Dog Stage, Theatre of Food, Trenchtown, and Fossets Circus.

Tickets for Electric Picnic 2012 are on sale tomorrow, March 2nd, from 9am priced at €230 for a regular weekend camping ticket and are available at usual outlets nationwide. There are also day tickets for Sunday available.
 

The list of bands announced today includes:

The Cure
Elbow
Sigur Ros
The Horrors
Grizzly Bear
Glen Hansard
Ed Sheeran
Bell X1
Christy Moore
The xx
Orbital
Hot Chip
Roots Manuva
Azealia Banks
Land Lovers
Solar Bears
Baxter Dury