Virgin FreeFrest

Promoter Seth Hurwitz dispelled all doubt as to whether there would be a third annual Virgin Mobile Festival by announcing it would move, as had been hotly rumored, from bankrupt Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md.

The festival lineup is significantly scaled down from past years, when it most notably headlined The Police, but there’s a trade-off – it’s free.

Concertgoers grabbed all 35,000 free tickets for the renamed Virgin Mobile FreeFest June 29, but Hurwitz announced yet another option for fans shut out in the initial rush for tickets to the Aug. 30 show featuring Blink-182, Weezer and Public Enemy.

Virgin Mobile USA and I.M.P. call the community service option the “Generation Free I.P.” which gives residents of Maryland and Washington, D.C., the opportunity to perform 13 hours of community service helping youth homeless organizations in exchange for one I.P. ticket. Of course, the offer is good only while supplies last.

What’s an I.P. ticket? Think V.I.P. but without the “V.”

Virgin Mobile is also organizing volunteer projects in Philadelphia, Boston and New York where two free I.P. tickets will be given to folks donating the most time exceeding 13 hours. Winners will also get a free bus ride to the festival.

Youth homeless organizations working with the festival include Bridge Over Troubled Waters in Boston; Green Chimneys in NYC; Help USA in Philadelphia; StandUP For Kids in Baltimore and Sasha Bruce in D.C.

“Once again, the folks at Virgin have come up with an idea that is so simple and wonderful, it reminds us we need people from outside the concert industry to take a fresh look,” said I.M.P.’s Hurwitz. “The idea of offering people the opportunity to do charity work in exchange for concert tickets is truly inspiring, and I am going to look for ways to do that the rest of the year. Why not use our power to give?”