Richard Branson To Launch Virgin Sport Festivals

Looking to mirror certain music festivals, Sir Richard Branson wants to bring that same fun spirit to the world of sport with his newest venture, aptly dubbed Virgin Sport. “Sporting events in the past have all been very much aimed at the individual and not at the family as a whole, whereas a concert is fun for everybody,” said Branson in an interview with Fast Company. “That’s what a sports event should be, and that’s what we’re going to make it. We’re thinking about it very much in the same vein as a music festival; even the tickets that people will buy will look like music festival tickets.”

Unlike traditional sports festivals that tend to focus on one discipline, Virgin Sports will incorporate a number of activities with hopes of appealing to the entire family. According to Fortune, “Virgin Sports’s festivals will integrate road races (including a half marathon and shorter distances to attract different runners), group fitness activists like yoga, bootcamp fitness classes and performances by local artists, among other activities (some free) to reach as many people as possible, with up to 20,000 participants conceivable at some festivals.”

This particular strategy builds on a growing trend among road race events, in which organizers have begun adding half-marathons and/or 5k races to a marathon. However Virgin wants to entice more than just the athlete of the family or group of friends by mixing in activities with various cultural elements.

The very first Virgin Sports Festival will take place in Hackney on April 30, 2017, with Westminster to follow on July 20, 2017, and San Francisco on October 14 and 15 later this year.

Learn more about Virgin Sports here.