Oasis at the Virgin Music Festival in 2008. (PHOTO: John Williams, Canoe.ca)

Virgin Mobile Canada is getting out of the music festival business — at least in 2010, QMI Agency has exclusively learned.

The company, which hosted its first Virgin Festival in Toronto in 2006 but expanded to include festivals in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Halifax by 2009, said it’s taking a break until 2011 because of the still-recovering economy and the lack of available headliners this year.

“We’re taking the year off,” said Virgin Mobile Canada Chief Marketing Officer Nathan Rosenberg in an exclusive chat with QMI Agency in Toronto.

“Like everybody last year, 2009, for the entire world, and in every industry was a bit different and a bit challenging. And when we got into 2010 we didn’t have luck in securing the headliners that we would have liked to have pursued. In the last couple of months as we’ve been trying to put the list together, it just didn’t get to the stage that we thought, ‘This is an event that we want to present to people who have been to Virgin Festivals.’ If we can’t produce a festival that provides a talent lineup that we think is appropriate, we won’t go ahead with it. And I think you’ve had Pemberton (near Whistler, B.C.) and Edgefest take this year off (too).”

Last year’s Toronto Virgin festival was supposed to be held near Barrie, Ont., and include camping but poor ticket sales led it to be moved to Molson Canadian Amphitheatre. The year before Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher was pushed on stage by a drunken fan when the event was held on Toronto Island.

Rosenberg is hopeful the Virgin Festival will return to Canada next year.

“As we move into 2011 we believe that consumer confidence will return, people’s discretionary income will increase and as a result we’ll certainly feel a greater level of confidence in presenting the festival as a marquee part of (our music strategy) as well again next year,” he said. “Assuming we get the right talent. We have a desire to do that again. From a Virgin Festival point of view, we still absolutely believe in the property.”

In the meantime, among the Virgin Mobile Canada music initiatives this year are:

- The Virgin Mobile Stage at the Crescent Street Festival in Montreal with Bedouin Soundclash, Karl Wolf and Faber Drive performing free shows June 10-12 during the Canadian Grand Prix.

- Sponsorship of North By NorthEast in Toronto, including the opening night show with Eagles of Death Metal at the Phoenix on June 16 and a free show with The Raveonettes and Iggy & The Stooges on the Virgin Mobile Stage on June 19 at Yonge and Dundas Square.

- Sponsorship of the MuchMusic Video Awards on June 20.

- Presenting Lady Gaga’s The Monster Ball tour with stops in Montreal (June 28), Toronto (July 11), Vancouver (Aug. 23) and Edmonton (Aug. 26).

Virgin Festival is still going strong in England, where it originated in 1996, and will also be a staged as a free festival again in the U.S. this year.