Just a few days after finishing up their 5th year in Del Mar and announncing a multiyear parnership with the San Diego Padres, San Diego-based KAABOO Festival has announced it has been sold.
The KAABOO festival is now owned by Virgin Fest, which is a subsidiary of Richard Branson’s global Virgin brand. KAABOO co-founders Bryan E. Gordon and Seth Wolkov of Madison Companies LLC launched the inaugural KAABOO in 2015 at the Del Mar Racetrack and Fairgrounds, and subsequently hosted incarnations in Arlington, Texas, where it takes place inside Dallas Cowboy's AT&T Stadium, as well as a sold-out event in the Cayman Islands this past March. Last Sunday, on the final evening of this year's sold-out three-day KAABOO Del Mar festival, the company announced it would be relocating to Petco Park and surrounding areas starting in 2020.
"I attended the first KAABOO Del Mar in 2015 with my parents," explained Virgin Fest CEO Jason Felts, "given it was KAABOO’s inaugural year, the attendance was low, however it became very clear to me that the vision was truly unique. It also became clear that KAABOO shared a like-minded approach to Virgin with customer service, while delivering a unique, differentiated, multi-sensory festival product. That, of course, is a testament to the Founders' initial vision supported by an extremely talented team of professionals who executed upon that vision. It was on that basis that we first invested and supported this vision in 2016. We look forward to the future of the KAABOO brand and its festival experiences under our ownership."
The sale of KAABOO was initiated by Virgin Fest founder and CEO Jason Felts, who has acted as the managing partner of KAABOO for the past few years. The new owners will not be hosting events in Texas or the Cayman Islands next year. Under the new ownership, KAABOO will not be rebranded and will continue to explore new partnerships to grow the brand with new offerings and activations.
For more information about KAABOO, visit kaaboodelmar.com.
