The V in the festival’s name represents Virgin Group, a multinational corporation venture capital conglomerate that operates in sectors such as aerospace, banking, business services, charity, communications, entertainment, health, hospitality, leisure, publishing, retail, sports, and travel. V Festival is sponsored by Virgin Media, a telecommunications and mass media company owned by Virgin Group.
V Festival was created thanks to Jarvis Cocker, an English musician best known as the frontman of the band Pulp. He announced that he wanted to perform at two outdoor venues in two days, giving fans in both north and south England a chance to attend the gig. Then more bands were added to the bill and an open-air concert was transformed into a full-fledged music festival.
The first V Festival (V96) was held on August 17 and 18, 1996. The event took place at Hylands House in Essex and at Temple Newsam in West Yorkshire. There were two stages, a dance arena, and a camping site. In 1999, the northern leg of the festival was moved from Temple Newsam to Weston Park, where it has remained since.
V Festival’s primary focus is rock music, but it embraces other genres and styles as well. Past headliners have included Kasabian, Calvin Harris, Justin Timberlake, The Killers, Beyonce, Kings of Leon, The Stone Roses, Arctic Monkeys, Eminem, David Guetta, Ed Sheeran, Nicki Minaj, Steve Angello, Basement Jaxx, Stereophonics, and other renowned artists. As of 2016, V Festival has five stages: the Virgin Media Stage, the MTV Stage, the Sure Arena, the Dance Tent, and the Glee Club Comedy Tent.
V Festival has been subject to criticism for its commercial nature compared to other summer music festivals held in the UK. For example, it charged £10 to buy a program, which was the only way for festival-goers to know the schedule. On the other hand, the commercial environment has some advantages such as being safer than some free events.
Photo: Sam Neill Photo
