and its official....well, not really, but its possibly official and at least they're still trying to have it!
http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2009/03/30/daily58.htmlVirgin Fest eyeing move to Merriweather Post
Baltimore Business Journal - by Ryan Sharrow Staff
The Virgin Mobile Festival, one of the largest concerts on the East Coast that has brought some of music?s biggest names to Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, could be hitting the road.
But after a three-year stint in Baltimore, the tour busses may not be traveling far.
The two-day festival?s promoter I.M.P. of Bethesda is in discussions about moving the event to Columbia?s 17,000-seat Merriweather Post Pavilion, industry sources and Howard County Executive Ken Ulman confirmed.
Ulman said I.M.P. Chairman Seth Hurwitz told him he was weighing potential venues for the summer show and Merriweather is among them.
Relocating to Merriweather would be a logical move, industry observers say, because I.M.P. manages and operates the venue. Hosting a downsized version of the festival at the venue would cut the company?s rental fee and cost of constructing a stage, industry experts say.
When asked about this year?s festival, Audrey Fix Schaefer, a publicist for I.M.P., said ?there is nothing to announce at this time.?
Jayne Wallace, a spokeswoman for Virgin Mobile USA, said the New Jersey telecom company plans to make an announcement regarding this year?s event before May.
?Some stuff is just decisions being made, options being weighed and ultimately contracts being signed,? Wallace said. ?We are looking at a lot of different new things for the festival.?
Wallace declined to disclose any specific details.
What?s for certain is that any move would be the latest hit to the embattled 138-year-old Pimlico, where more than 60,000 people attended last year?s Virgin Fest in August. The historic track?s owner, Magna Entertainment Corp., has filed for bankruptcy leaving both the course and it?s signature Preaknesss Stakes in question. The upcoming spring racing schedule at Pimlico has been trimmed by 11 days to 20. Total wagering last spring at the course dropped 16.5 percent to $190.9 million.
Tom Chuckas, president of the Maryland Jockey Club, said he has not gotten an official word as to what I.M.P.'s plans are. Losing the event would be a hit to the course, he said.
?We get traffic and we get Pimlico on the map. We draw younger people at that event and we try to capture them and bring them back to other events at Pimlico and Laurel,? Chuckas said of the Virgin Fest. ?If they try and do something else we?d be unhappy and it would be a blow.?
Chuckas said Pimlico charges around $200,000 in rent for the weekend.
But the event does more than give a weekend boost to Pimlico.
The Virgin Fest has called Baltimore its exclusive U.S. home for the last three summers and drew acts such as 80s rockers the Police, Bob Dylan, Kanye West and the Smashing Pumpkins. Hotel managers near Pimlico say they?ve enjoyed full-occupancy at the time of the concert and any move would leave a negative impact on their August business.
The quiet chatter surrounding this summer?s event likely signals the performers at the festival won?t be as high profile as they?ve been in the past, said Don Wehner, a concert promoter with Upfront Promotions in Baltimore.
?You really haven?t heard that much about where the big headliners are,? Wehner said. ?So you want to assume it?s going to be at a smaller venue.?
Bruce Holtman, business agent with Baltimore?s IATSE Local 19, a union which has set up lighting and audio visual equipment at the Virgin Fest the past three years, said he has spoken with Merriweather officials who mentioned a smaller version of the event may relocate to Columbia this summer.
Officials at Merriweather could not be reached for comment.
