If you could weather the 100-degree temperatures and didn’t mind the dusty racetracks-turned-muddy venue, the Virgin Festival held at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, was the place to be for rockers and dance-music fans alike.

Following the success of last year’s festival, Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, decided to make the Virgin Festival an annual event. The Aug. 4 –5, 2007, event nearly doubled last year’s attendance to almost 80,000 concertgoers.

Pimlico Race Course’s 140-acre track, home to The Preakness Stakes, accommodated an incredibly diverse offering of over 40 acts including a tent and two stages that housed rap, reggae, indie rock, mainstream and dance music. The dance tent, sponsored by Buzz Life Productions of Washington DC, consisted of some of the world’s biggest names in electronic music including Sander Van Doorn, Sasha and John Digweed, The Crystal Method, Deep Dish, Danny Tenaglia, James Zabiel, Dieselboy, Andy C , Booka Shade, Miguel Migs, Felix Da Housecat and others.
Recently reunited rockers The Police as well as The Smashing Pumpkins and the Beastie Boys were the top billings on the main stage, while the second stage boasted Modest Mouse, 311, TV on the Radio, Velvet Revolver and Wu-Tang Clan.

Outside the musical chaos, there was much eye candy for festivalgoers. Stilt walkers, wrestlers, roller girls, visual and performance artists and eco-educational exhibits dotted the grounds. Info was available on a number of social and political issues including awareness on ways to help children who lack health care, the homeless and hungry; there was even a place to register to vote.

Cups and other debris littered the ground over the weekend, as to be expected, but the festival producers were ahead of the game with compost stations nearby for what they hoped to be a ‘green’ event. The eco-friendly Spitfire Agency was brought on board to help with the effort as well.