Soft ticket sales for Canada’s Virgin Festival on August 29-30 have forced the festival to relocate to the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto, ON, from the remote location of Burl’s Creek Park in Oro, ON. Nine Inch Nails, Pet Shop Boys, Our Lady Peace, Ben Harper & Relentless7, Pixies and Franz Ferdinand headline this year’s bill of more than 30 artists.
Other Canadian Virgin Festivals this summer have been staged in the more urban centers of Montreal, Halifax, Vancouver and Calgary. The move to Burl’s Creek Park was made to accommodate the addition of camping this year, an integral part of Virgin’s European festivals, where it originated.
“We were not seeing an increase in the trajectory we normally see, knowing what some of this talent should sell in the Toronto market,” festival director Andrew Bridge told the Toronto Star. “A lot of the anecdotal evidence suggested that a move to Toronto would make a massive difference.”
Transportation costs to Burl’s Creek Park would have cost festival-goers more as well, Bridge said.
Tickets to the festival will now include admission to the Canadian National Exhibition, which coincides with the music event. Tickets refunds are available at point of purchase, where applicable. Festival-goers who purchased tickets with the camping component will be refunded for that portion.
New blocks of tickets for the new location go on sale on August 22 through Ticketmaster. One-day reserved tickets are $49.50 to $59.50; two-day reserved are $89 to $99; and one-day lawn tickets are $39.50.