by Sarah Rix (Toronto)

What:  Virgin Festival Ontario

When: Saturday, August 29 & Sunday, August 30

Who: 36 bands (including Ben Harper & Relentless7, Pixies, Franz Ferdinand, Paolo Nutini, Nine Inch Nails, Pet Shop Boys, Our Lady Peace, N.E.R.D., Sean Kingston) Where: The Molson Amphitheater (Toronto)

It’s been a busy year for the Virgin Festival organizers. The international music festival has already brought Canada four dates this year. Now, after shows in Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, it’s Ontario’s turn to show up and rock out - even if it rains.

Press+1 had the opportunity to speak with Chris Baines, the head of communications for Virgin Festival, about some of these changes and why he’s confident that the two day festival will be pulled off without a hitch.

This year, V Fest Ontario has faced its fair share of changes from earlier Toronto Virgin Festivals. After they moved the festival up a couple of weeks this year in hopes of ensuring some warmer weather (which looks like it’s not going to happen), a lot of fans were disgruntled when Virgin announced that the festival would take place in Burl’s Creek, a venue located between Barrie and Orillia. The long journey from the usual Toronto Island location, mixed with poor weather and a faltering economy, resulted in poor ticket sales. With one month left to move some tickets, the show organizers announced that they’d be moving the entire operation back to downtown Toronto, this time to the Molson Amphitheater.

Baines was quick to point out that the venue change was pulled of fairly smoothly, and thanked the Molson Amphitheater for accommodating the change. While Burl’s Creek would have offered festival-goers a European experience due to the opportunity for people to set up tents and sleep under the stars, the shift to downtown Toronto has meant much stronger ticket sales. He urged anyone that was thinking about going to look into getting tickets as quickly as possibly, as they’ve been getting increasingly harder to come by.

When the lineup was first released, there was some anxiety on social networking sites as to the wait. Baines explained that there wasn’t really a delay in releasing it, but that Virgin had held off for as long as possible because they wanted to ensure that they had put together the best possible lineup. He spoke about how fans have loved the other four Canadian V Fests and how he expected the Ontario date to be no exception.

He also spoke about the lineup and how he’s thrilled that Virgin has been able to offer such a diverse group of artists. In a further attempt to emulate U.K. festivals, the lineup isn’t just limited to pure rock acts. From the danceable, bouncing tunes of Franz Ferdinand, to the heavier sounds of second-day headliners Nine Inch Nails, it won’t only be the rock fans getting in on the fun. Pop artists Sean Kingston and Pitbull are also on the bill, and Virgin hopes to expand on its existing fan base and bring in new festival goers. In the hopes of drawing in a younger crowd, three stages will be set up on the grounds, offering ticket-holders a wide variety of options, ranging from the mellow rock to the upbeat pop.

Baines wasn’t too concerned about having to compete with the music festivals across the pond either. With this weekend playing host to Reading and Leeds, two huge music festivals over in the U.K., Baines thinks that no matter what’s going on there will always be enough music to choose from, no matter where you are in the world. This year’s lineup looks to mix the huge household names with some new up-and-comers. Competition overseas wasn’t among Virgin’s primary concerns.

The Virgin Festival team does, however, rank audience involvement among one of their top interests. Utilizing sites like Twitter and Facebook, they’re constantly updating and checking up on what people have to say about the event. They receive thousands of emails with questions, queries, and feedback, and they hit up the street in an effort to find out exactly what it is that people want in a music festival. Baines explains that people are very passionate about music and that Virgin wants them to know that they’re being heard, loud and clear.

And Saturday and Sunday’s festivities won’t just be about the music. Calling it a ‘festravaganza’, Virgin will be offering festival-goers an array of on-site activities. Need a haircut? Virgin’s got something set up for that. They’ll also be providing pole dancing classes, a chance to rub elbows with your favourite artists in the autograph tent, and a whole lot of other activities and experiences you might not be expecting. So show up, enjoy a drink, have a good mosh, and listen to your favourite band, but also take advantage of everything that Virgin’s offering - they’re confident that you’ll be kept busy.

After finalizing details over a long nine months and with a staff of two hundred music lovers preparing for the gates to be flung upon on Saturday, Virgin is already looking ahead to next year. Once the dust has settled and everybody’s gone home, the Virgin team will sit down and decide what worked and what didn’t. Then, they’ll begin to talk about possibilities and bands for next year. It’s a busy life, but it’s all in the name of putting together a memorable festival.

Press+1 will have full coverage of Virgin Festival Ontario, so check back later for a full review of the two-day event.

Written by :

Sarah

 

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written by Kindah Mardam Bey, August 28, 2009

I'm not in TO during the festival, but would love to go to this one! Sloan, Franz Ferdinand, Our Lady Peace! Hello! Plus, I saw the Pet Shop Boys on a recent music awards ceremony and they are still as awesome as ever!

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