We’d heard the rumors and speculated ourselves, and today the folks behind the Virgin Mobile Festival announced that its shortened schedule and new venue this year will have one pretty great thing going for it: it’s going to be totally free.
The 2009 Virgin Mobile Festival will take place on Sunday, August 30 at Merriweather Post Pavilion, and will be, for real, entirely free. Why free? Virgin Mobile just wants to be nice, they say.
“In a time of economic challenges and daily sacrifices, we wanted to throw a fantastic party so people could let loose and have a great time — on us,” said Sir Richard Branson, Founder and President, Virgin Group. “Virgin Mobile FreeFest offers music fans a brilliant day of fun and music and a chance for them to give back to those even less fortunate.”
OK, sure. Thanks, Mr. Billionaire!
You still have to snag a ticket, of course. The tickets will be given away to the public through Ticketmaster starting at 10 a.m. EST on Saturday, June 27. Virgin Mobile customers and previous Virgin Mobile Festival ticket buyers will have the best chances, as they’ll be invited via email to a private “free-sale” (get it?) on Thursday and Friday. So if you fall into one of those two categories, keep an eye out for an email. Also note that Ticketmaster will waive its convenience charge only if you pick up your tickets at Merriweather or the 9:30 Club. Otherwise, you will have to pay a fee to have Ticketmaster deliver your tickets. Parking, however, will be free for the event.
To add another wrinkle, Virgin Mobile says that in order to “respond to the sharp decrease in national social giving,” they’ll be hosting a VIP seating area for people who complete 13 hours of community service at designated homeless youth shelters around the country (check back here after June 29 for more details). They’ll also be promoting a text-based donation system (text “FREEFEST” to 20222) that will go to youth homeless centers.
So what about the music? Some really good bands are scheduled to appear, and then a couple of kinda lame headliners. Topping the bill are the band that everyone used to love but now pretty much hates, Weezer (hopefully they’ll stick to older hits) and the band that no one ever liked, ever, Blink-182. The rest of the line-up is much more interesting: Franz Ferdinand, Public Enemy, The National, Girl Talk, The Bravery, The Hold Steady, St. Vincent, Wale, Mates of State, Taking Back Sunday, and Jet. There will also be a dance tent featuring HOLY F*CK, Pete Tong, Danny Howells and Lee Burridge. The full lineup is now available online.
