Virgin Mobile Fest May Seek New Location

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BALTIMORE (WJZ) ― The fate of Old Hilltop is putting a money-maker for the city in jeopardy.

Weijia Jiang reports the Virgin Mobile Festival has played at Pimlico for the past three summers, but the race track's uncertain future could force planners to go elsewhere.

Some 75,000 music fans swarmed the Pimlico Race Track last August for the third annual Virgin Mobile Festival with headliners like Kanye West and Bob Dylan.

At that time, the event's manager Carter Angus called Pimlico the ideal location.

"We just love Pimlico. It's so perfect for us and having a big festival Baltimore has been amazing to us. [They] obviously opened up their arms and welcomed us every year," said Angus.

That was then. Now coordinators say there will be a 2009 show, but it's unclear if Baltimore will host it.

In a statement Virgin Mobile says, "For all intents and purposes, we fully expect to hold another festival. We have some exciting ideas we're looking at."

The uncertainty surrounding the festival may be linked to the questionable future of the venue. The track's owner Magna Entertainment is tied up in bankruptcy.

It's brought out new bidders for the property including Pikesville-based Carl Verstandig, who doesn't see horses or music at Pimlico.

"We could put a first-class shopping center in with a large supermarket, a drugstore," said Verstandig.

But music lovers like Brian Burkert, who owns the Sound Garden in Fells Point, bank on the festival in more ways than one.

"We saw an increase of traffic, probably about 15 percent that weekend," said Burkert.

In addition to cash flow, the flow of tunes is in the air.

"It's all about the musical community and getting things going in Baltimore all the time," said Burkert.

"Baltimore is a rocking town. We need to keep it that way," said Michael Donlan.

http://wjz.com/local/virgin.mobile.pimlico.2.975717.html

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Virgin Mobile Festival could move to Merriweather Post Pavilion

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/midnight_sun/blog/merriweather.JPGVirgin Mobile Festival organizers are considering moving the annual festival to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia (pictured).

Festival promoter Seth Hurwitz is eying the pavilion, which he currently books, as a new home for the festival, according to Howard County Executive Ken Ulman.

"We'd be thrilled to host it in Howard County," Ulman said.

"Seth has done a wonderful job resurrecting Merriweather over the last few years. We're really pleased with the work he's done there."
A move to Merriweather could mean big changes for the festival ...


First off, Merriweather is a much smaller venue than Pimlico Race Course, where the festival is currently held. Pimlico's infield holds about 60,000, give or take. Big stages and vendor tents like the ones you'll find at Virgin Fest reduce that capacity. But Pimlico can still pack in a lot of people.

Merriweather holds close to 20,000 people. But in May 2006, when it hosted the HFStival, it added stages in Symphony Woods and a pavilion parking lot. That upped the capacity to 27,500, The Sun reported at the time.

With this setup, Merriweather could potentially hold almost 60,000 in two days. That's not far off from the kind of numbers Virgin Fest has pulled in recent years. So it's certainly feasible.

But if the festival were to move to Merriweather, it would most likely have fewer massive A-list headliners (Kanye West and Jack Johnson, etc.) and more semi-A-list acts (Bob Dylan, Wilco, etc.).

Also, the Baltimore Business Journal did a thorough piece about the possibility of a Merriweather move a couple days ago. BBJ writer Ryan Sharrow even spoke with the Maryland Jockey Club and area hotels to see what kind of impact the festival has on the local economy. Check it out. (http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2009/03/30/daily58.html)


(Sun photo by Elizabeth Malby)

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/midnight_sun/blog/2009/04/virgin_mobile_festival_could_m.html

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effing lame.