Virgin Sport and AKQA are proud to launch a new fitness experience created to move the world. Bringing together friends, family and communities to help each other on the quest to reach their personal best – Virgin Sport aims to change the health and wellness game for good.

Virgin Sport has pioneered an exciting new event, the festival of sport that's challenging and welcoming, with a playful attitude, and customised to each community or city. Festivals of sport include a distance run, an accessible shorter run and group fitness training. Active challenges are combined with local food, music, art and culture. In 2017, four festivals will launch in the UK and US: Hackney, Westminster, San Francisco and Oxford.

Virgin Sport is co-located in New York City and London and led by CEO Mary Wittenberg, former President/CEO of New York Road Runners and Race Director for the New York City Marathon. Virgin Sport champions free and youth fitness in the community teaming up with local causes that give back to kids sports programmes.

AKQA partnered with Virgin Sport to invent the new active lifestyle company from core idea to launch. AKQA also created the Virgin Sport identity, tone of voice and a cohesive customer journey across all digital and physical channels including the festival of sport experience.

Mary Wittenberg, Global CEO of Virgin Sport, said: “We feel like we won the gold with AKQA as our brand identity and digital experience partner. CEO and founder Ajaz Ahmed and his team are one of a kind: strategic, energetic and entrepreneurial, with stunning design and customer experience. We are grateful to the AKQA team for their talents, insights, tireless work and constant focus on excellence. Ajaz’s recent book captures our sentiments about the opportunity in front of us to move the world thanks in large part to AKQA’s early and pivotal role: limitless.”

AKQA CEO Ajaz Ahmed said: “It’s an honour to collaborate with Virgin Sport to make our communities stronger by bringing the power, purity and beauty of sport to millions of people around the world.” He added: “There’s nothing more blissful than the universal and inclusive feeling sport invites when we have progressed just that little bit further or faster together.”

AKQA will partner with Virgin Sport to launch new festivals of sport and promote the active lifestyle in cities around the world.

To learn more and register for upcoming events, visit www.virginsport.com