Oxegen - 2008 Festival

2008 Festival

Oxegen '08 was a three day event, a first for the festival. It took place from Friday 11 July until Sunday 13 July at Punchestown Racecourse in Naas, County Kildare. Presale tickets went on sale at 8:00 am on Friday 30 November 2007 at a cost of €197. Actual sale tickets went on sale at 8:00 am on Friday 7 March 2008 but failed to sell out until 7 May. Extra tickets went on sale on 20 June in “a move to combat touting”.

Kings of Leon were the first band to be announced on 27 November 2007 at 5:00 pm They headlined the opening night of the festival. On 15 February 2008 R.E.M. were confirmed for Oxegen 2008, headlining the Saturday night. On 19 February at 16:29, Kaiser Chiefs, The Raconteurs and Ian Brown were announced on the official website, followed by The Fratellis, Interpol and Counting Crows the next day. The Chemical Brothers and Justice were amongst those added on 21 February, whilst on 22 February Rage Against the Machine were the last of the headliners to be confirmed. On Sunday 24 February, The Verve were confirmed on the official website for an appearance at Oxegen 2008, performing last on the Main Stage on the Saturday. In the following months more bands were announced including Stereophonics, The Prodigy, Panic at the Disco, The Feeling, Editors, Kate Nash, Bowling for Soup, The Hoosiers, Newton Faulkner, Scouting for Girls, The Zutons, Battles, The Wombats, The Subways, Ben Folds, The Stranglers, Amy Macdonald, Alphabeat, Amy Winehouse, The Pogues, The Charlatans, The Swell Season, Manic Street Preachers, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Ting Tings, Black Kids, MGMT, The Kooks, Groove Armada, The National, Tricky, The Go! Team, Feeder, The Pigeon Detectives, The Enemy and One Night Only. Irish performers to play the festival included The Blizzards, Republic of Loose, Róisín Murphy, Bell X1, Mundy, Aslan, Paddy Casey, The Coronas, The Saw Doctors, The Kinetiks, Dirty Epics, Declan O'Rourke, Delorentos, Future Kings of Spain, Concerto For Constantine, God Is an Astronaut, The Script, Fight Like Apes, Codes and Oppenheimer.

In late 2008, Oxegen '08 won the "Yourope Award for Best European Festival" which was voted for by members of the public from across Europe. The festival was chosen ahead of rivals such as Glastonbury, Roskilde and T in the Park.