Slane Festival

Slane Festival
Red Hot Chili Peppers performing at Slane Castle in County Meath, Ireland
Genre	Rock
Dates	Various dates during the Summer months
Location(s)	Slane Castle, Slane, County Meath, Ireland
Years active	1981–present

The Slane Festival (often referred to as Slane) is a recurring concert held most years since 1981 on the grounds of Slane Castle on the outskirts of Slane in County Meath, Ireland. The castle is owned by The 8th Marquess Conyngham, who was known by the courtesy title the Earl of Mount Charles from 1974 until 2009. Slane lies between Navan and Drogheda, about 45 km northwest of Dublin. Concerts typically occur on a Saturday in August, from 12:00 to 22:00. The sloping grounds of Slane Castle form a natural amphitheatre which is ideal for concerts.^[1] As many as 70,000–110,000 people usually attend. One of the venue boundaries is the River Boyne. Two people died while trying to swim the river to gain free access to R.E.M.'s concert in 1995.^[2][3] The minimum age of admission to the Slane Festival was reduced in 2006 from 18 to 16 because of complaints.^{[citation needed]}

Aiken Promotions invited artists such as David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Queen, The Rolling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen to perform during the 1980s.^[4] 2001 and 2013 are the only years in which two concerts were held in the same year. In 2001, both concerts were headlined by U2.^[5] In 2013, the first concert was headlined by Bon Jovi and the second by Eminem, who had controversially cancelled his 2005 Slane appearance after entering drug rehabilitation.

The most recent Slane Festival took place on 10 June 2023, headlined by Harry Styles.