It was like a scene out of a Bond movie when Virgin Group’s chairman Sir Richard Branson, in typically flamboyant style, rappelled from a helicopter through the roof of Toronto’s Docks Entertainment Complex at the weekend to announce the Canadian launch of Virgin Music Festival (V Festival).
Onlookers gasped as the adrenaline-fuelled billionaire, whose idea of time off work is to have a crack at breaking another world record in his hot air balloon, hit the ground smiling and exclaimed, “God, that was fun!”
Sporting a black T-shirt bearing the festival slogan 'From England With Love' – a play on the title of 1963's 007 flick From Russia With Love – the maverick entrepreneur was clearly delighted to be promoting a project so close to his heart.
The weekend-long festival reflects the father-of-two's lifetime love of music. Today his quirky corporation includes trains, planes, and plans to offer space flights by the end of 2007, but it all began when he set up record label Virgin Records at the age of 22.
The Toronto V Festival, which will take place on September 9 and 10, will feature 40 bands, including The Flaming Lips, Massive Attack, and Sam Roberts Band, with others to be announced soon. That weekend, Toronto Island is to be reserved exclusively for the festival’s 10,000 anticipated ticket holders.
Photo: Peter Bregg
Photo: Peter Bregg
