Virgin Festival facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Virgin Mobile Fest
Virgin Mobile Fest logo
Genre	Rock
Location(s)	United States, Canada
Years active	2006 - 2013
Website	virginfestival.ca

The Virgin Fest was a cool music festival that happened in the United States and Canada. In the U.S., it was called the Virgin Mobile FreeFest. It was like a sister festival to the V Festival, which was a big music event in the UK. The Virgin Fest was known for bringing together many different rock bands and artists.

The festival was sponsored by Virgin Mobile, a phone company. This helped make the festival popular and sometimes even free!

The very first Virgin Fest was announced by Richard Branson, who started the Virgin Group. It happened in 2006. The first show was in Toronto, Canada, on September 9 and 10, with over 40 artists. Another show took place in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 23, 2006. Big bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Who played there.

In 2007, Virgin Fest expanded. It went to Vancouver in May, returned to Baltimore for two days in August, and came back to Toronto in September. In 2008, it also happened in Calgary, Alberta, and again in Baltimore.

From 2009 onwards, the festival in the U.S. became known as the Virgin Mobile FreeFest. This meant tickets were often free! It was held at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. Tickets for the 2011 FreeFest were gone in just five minutes because everyone wanted to go!

Past Festival Lineups

Virgin Mobile FreeFest 2013

This festival took place on Saturday, September 21st, 2013. Some of the main artists who performed included:

• MGMT
• The Avett Brothers
• Vampire Weekend
• Kaskade
• Robin Thicke
• Pretty Lights
• Madeon

Virgin Mobile FreeFest 2012

This event was held on Saturday, October 6th, 2012. Here are some of the artists who played:

• Ben Folds Five
• Alabama Shakes
• ZZ Top
• Jack White
• Santigold
• Nas
• Skrillex
• Above & Beyond

Virgin Mobile FreeFest 2011

This festival happened on Saturday, September 10th, 2011. Some of the popular acts were:

• The Black Keys
• Cee Lo Green
• Deadmau5
• Patti Smith
• TV on the Radio
• Empire of the Sun
• Calvin Harris

Virgin Mobile FreeFest 2010

The 2010 FreeFest was on September 25th. Here are some of the artists who performed:

• Jimmy Eat World
• Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
• Matt and Kim
• Pavement
• Ludacris
• M.I.A.
• Chromeo
• Sleigh Bells

Virgin Mobile FreeFest 2009

This festival was held on August 30th, 2009, and was free for everyone! Virgin Mobile hoped people would donate to help youth homelessness. Some of the artists included:

• Blink-182
• Weezer
• Taking Back Sunday
• Jet
• Franz Ferdinand
• Public Enemy
• Girl Talk

Virgin Festival Montreal 2009

This festival took place on June 19th and 20th, 2009.

• Friday, June 19: The Black Eyed Peas, Simple Plan, Hedley, Carly Rae Jepsen
• Saturday, June 20: New Kids on the Block, Akon, Jesse McCartney, Lights

Virgin Festival Nova Scotia 2009

This event was on Saturday, July 4th, 2009.

• The Offspring
• Metric
• Dinosaur Jr
• Hey Rosetta!

Virgin Festival British Columbia 2009

This festival was on July 25th and 26th, 2009.

• Saturday, July 25: The Roots, Our Lady Peace, Broken Social Scene
• Sunday, July 26: Ben Harper & Relentless7, Metric, Sonic Youth

Virgin Festival Alberta 2009

This festival happened on August 8th and 9th, 2009.

• Saturday, August 8: Pearl Jam, Wintersleep, K-OS
• Sunday, August 9: Billy Talent, Metric, Tokyo Police Club

Virgin Festival Ontario 2009

This festival was on August 29th and 30th, 2009.

• Saturday, August 29: Ben Harper & Relentless7, The Pixies, Franz Ferdinand, Paolo Nutini
• Sunday, August 30: Nine Inch Nails, Pet Shop Boys, Our Lady Peace, N.E.R.D.

Virgin Festival Calgary 2008

This festival was on June 21st and 22nd, 2008.

• Saturday, June 21: The Fratellis, Three Days Grace, The Flaming Lips, Stone Temple Pilots
• Sunday, June 22: Stars, City and Colour, Matthew Good, The Tragically Hip

Virgin Mobile Festival Baltimore 2008

This festival was held on August 9th and 10th, 2008.

• Day 1 (August 9): Foo Fighters, Bloc Party, The Offspring, Chuck Berry, Jack Johnson, Underworld
• Day 2 (August 10): Lil Wayne, The Black Keys, Bob Dylan, Kanye West, Paramore, Nine Inch Nails, Armin Van Buuren

Virgin Festival Toronto 2008

This festival took place on September 6th and 7th, 2008.

• Day 1 (September 6): Foo Fighters, Bloc Party, MGMT, The Kooks, The Fratellis
• Day 2 (September 7): Oasis, Paul Weller, Stereophonics, Silversun Pickups, Moby (DJ set), Deadmau5

Virgin Festival Vancouver 2007

This festival was on May 20th and 21st, 2007.

• Day 1: My Chemical Romance, Billy Talent, Rise Against, Mutemath
• Day 2: The Killers, AFI, Hot Hot Heat, Metric

Virgin Festival Baltimore 2007

This festival was held on August 4th and 5th, 2007.

• Day 1: Incubus, Beastie Boys, The Police, Amy Winehouse, LCD Soundsystem
• Day 2: The Smashing Pumpkins, Panic! at the Disco, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, Wu-Tang Clan, Velvet Revolver

Virgin Festival Toronto 2007

This festival was on September 8th and 9th, 2007.

• Day 1: Björk, Interpol, Arctic Monkeys, M.I.A.
• Day 2: Smashing Pumpkins, The Killers, Metric, Stars

Virgin Festival Toronto 2006

This was one of the very first Virgin Festivals, held on September 9th and 10th, 2006.

• Day 1: The Flaming Lips, Gnarls Barkley, Muse, Alexisonfire
• Day 2: Broken Social Scene, The Raconteurs, The Strokes, Sam Roberts Band

Virgin Festival Baltimore 2006

This festival was on September 23rd, 2006.

• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• The Who
• The Flaming Lips
• Gnarls Barkley
• The Raconteurs
• The Killers
• Scissor Sisters
• Wolfmother
• Thievery Corporation
• Carl Cox

See also

• Olympic Island Festival