Buyout is good news - but Victorious needs to stay affordable

It's fair to say that nobody (except those in the know) saw this one coming.

No, we’re not talking about the proposed takeover of Pompey by American billionaire mogul Michael Eisner.

This time it’s big news about the Victorious music festival that will have taken many people by surprise.

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Just a few weeks after we revealed the star-studded line-up for this year’s event on Southsea Common, including Stereophonics, Elbow, Olly Murs and Rita Ora, today we report on how the festival has been sold off to Global Entertainment, which is now the UK’s second-largest festival operator.

So what does this mean for the future of Victorious, which has grown into a 60,000-capacity family festival from modest beginnings back in 2012?

Well, there seems to be no doubt the three people behind it will have done very nicely out of the takeover deal.

But they say that their aim was always to make Victorious bigger and better and that Global’s access to top musicians will help them to rival the likes of Glastonbury and Reading festivals.

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We should all be excited about that because it would really put Portsmouth on the map and benefit the local economy.

Importantly, Victorious bosses say that the festival will definitely stay in the city.

Nor are they cutting their ties with what is very much their baby. Far from it.

They will still be closely involved in planning the event, with Global in the background acting as consultant.

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So who can we expect to be on the bill at future Victorious festivals?

The message seems to be that, with Global on board, we can look forward to truly global names heading to the city to put on a show.

That sounds great, but with the important caveat that bigger names and bigger crowds don’t mean much bigger prices.

Because Victorious has built a strong and loyal following by remaining affordable and that must not change.