While other shows have been postponed or canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the inaugural Virgin Fest is still scheduled for Los Angeles in June, said Steve Levy, the chief marketing officer of Virgin Fest during an online panel for the AMP Music Summit on Wednesday, May 6.
“We have a festival planned for the first week of June right now, and right now we’re going ahead with it,” Levy said during the afternoon panel titled “Music & Brands: Connecting Brands, Fans and Music in the Year Without Touring.”
The panel was moderated by Josh Levine, the summit’s co-founder, and also included Jeff Castelaz, the founder of Cast Management and Chris Monaco, the managing director for public relations and marketing company Rogers & Cowan.
The new Virgin Fest is scheduled for Banc of California Stadium and Exposition Park June 6-7 with the goal of appealing to fans of all kinds of music with acts on three stages in a venue that has a capacity of 30,000 people.
The lineup is headlined by pop superstar and multi-Grammy-winning diva Lizzo along with A$AP Rocky. Also on the bill are multi-Grammy winners Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals, electronica dance trio Major Lazer and pop star Ellie Goulding.
Levy’s announcement that the show is still planned seemed to surprise other panel members, since the discussion focused on how the music business has changed without live shows.
“You’re on sale?” a surprised-looking Monaco asked, referring to ticket sales after Levy said they were moving forward with the show.
“We’re still on sale,” Levy said.
“Our view is if we get to throw a party, we’ll throw a big party. And we’ll be the first party to get thrown. And if we’re not, we won’t,” he added.
Currently, large gatherings are banned by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order. Newsom has announced a four-stage plan for reopening the state, with the second stage, allowing for some retail to reopen with curbside options, to begin at the end of the week. Allowing concerts and festivals is the fourth and final stage of the plan.
