V Festival is set to be rebranded in 2018 following the withdrawal of headline sponsor Virgin after 22 years.
Festival Republic MD Melvin Benn has confirmed speculation about the future of the twin event, staged in Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Weston Park, Staffordshire by Live Nation in partnership with SJM, Metropolis and MCD. He told Music Week:
“The festivals will continue, we have the announcement later in November of the replacement name. We are looking forward to the new festival now, it’s just something that we are incredibly excited about.
“It will very much continue to have a pop and dance focus. We will have a complete refresh and it’s likely to go to three days. I believe the demand warrants it – the demand and the talent are out there.”
V Festival was launched in 1996 and was originally seen as a indie rock festival with headline shows from the likes of Blur, Pulp, The Prodigy, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Radiohead, before it moved to a pop format in the mid 2000s.
In recent years, V Festival faced competition from city-based festivals and boutique events, but the event consolidated its longstanding status in the festival calendar by focusing on pop acts such as Justin Bieber and Rihanna last year. Pink and Jay-Z topped the bill this summer, though Music Week reported last month that ticket sales had been slower than usual, particularly at the Stafford site.
