Music: Branson Plans New Festival to Replace V Fest

One year ago, Sir Richard Branson took to his blog to announce the end of the V Festival, the long-running British music festival the Virgin Group founder started in 1996.

“After 22 very enjoyable and successful years, 2017 was Virgin’s last V Festival,” Branson wrote. “At Virgin, we know firsthand how important it is to keep innovating and changing things up, which is why it is now time for us to look at new ways we can disrupt the industry to ensure music is a force for good.”

Now Branson, alongside Virgin Produced CEO Jason Felts and KAABOO music festival founder Bryan Gordon, will attempt to disrupt the festival industry with Virgin Fest, a music festival set to launch in the U.S. in late 2019 that he announced after the unveiling of his Hollywood Walk of Fame star October 16th.

“I love music. I love festivals,” Branson tells Rolling Stone. “The era of one came to an end [with V Fest] and it was important that in very little time that a new Virgin festival was born. Obviously, music is Virgin’s background. As we move into space and cruise ships and hotels, it’s important that we keep our roots through things like festivals.”

Organizers won’t announce specifics of the new fest until early 2019, but the two-day event will hold up to 25,000 attendees per day — there will be no camping or 24-hour facilities — and take place somewhere on the West Coast. “It’s going to have a lot of sunshine and an outdoorsy feel to it,” Felts says cryptically when asked about the location.

Branson and Felts are confident that they’ll offer something different to entice fans that may be weary of the festival experience.

“The convergence of music, technology and innovation will be a key differentiator for us,” Felts says. “Most apps are just checking lineups and maybe there’s a selfie cam. There’s no real innovation. Imagine a world in which you go into your app and have your food or drink brought to you, have seat-to-seat chatting and click on your friend and have your friend meet you over at a certain stage. Imagine if you bought the general-admission pass and you got there and you think you made a mistake and want the VIP pass. Imagine a world in which you could go into your app and automatically upgrade.”

Felts adds that he wants Virgin Fest to have a “level of cleanliness that you would only typically get at a high-end festival,” including, as a press release notes, “eco-focused hydration stations and clean flushing toilets.” Sanitary conditions, while admirable, are hardly the sexiest selling point for a new festival, but Branson and Felts are undeterred.

“It starts with your venue. Having a festival out in the middle of a field with dust and mud is something we’re steering away from,” Felts says in a possible reference to Coachella’s Empire Polo Grounds. “We’ll be announcing our first venue, which is world-class, with appropriate facilities versus just sort of putting up stages in the middle of a field.”