Virgin Pulls Out Of V Festival London

“After 22 very enjoyable and successful years, 2017 was Virgin’s last V Festival,” Virgin boss Richard Branson wrote Oct. 30.  

– V Festival (Staffordshire)

Since 1996, the event took place on the third weekend of August at two locations, one in the north, one in the south of England, and sharing the same lineup. While the Hylands Park in Essex has been the southern site from the beginning, the northern leg moved twice, ending up in Weston Park, Staffordshire, since 1999.

“Being part of V Festival has been an honour and there are some amazing moments that will stay with me forever – including introducing Paul Weller and welcoming V2 Records’ first signing The Stereophonics to a massive audience,” Branson wrote in a blog post.

“Who would have thought that an idea to sell cut-price mail-order records would grow into a record label, let alone a unique music festival – and so much else besides,” he added, wishing promoter Live Nation “every success with their future plans. We would like to thank them for a brilliant partnership over recent years.”

Live Nation/Festival Republic’s MD Melvin Benn told Music Week that a new name for the event would be announced in November, and that the festival would expand to a three-day event with both the southern and northern legs remaining.