A 264-page hardcover slab with photos and tales from the venue’s history, 9:30: The Book will include stories from original clubowner Dody DiSanto, Public Enemy’s Chuck D, The Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat and Fugazi, songwriters Natalie Merchant and Sarah McLachlan and the club’s current owners, Seth Hurwitz and Rich Heinecke. Expected out in January, it’s available for preorder.

The book coincides with a three-day anniversary party at the V Street club, the 9:30 World’s Fair, taking place Jan. 5 through 7. 9:30 Club is calling the event a “funhouse of interactive, jaw-dropping imagery chronicling 35 years of memories and memorabilia.” A limited number of free tickets are up for grabs now.

The 9:30 Club opened in 1980 at 930 F St. NW and quickly became the city’s most consistent alt-rock venue, hosting early performances from bands across new wave, no wave, punk rock and D.C. hardcore. Go-go band Trouble Funk played the F Street spot’s final show in 1996 before 9:30 relocated to the former WUST Radio Music Hall at 815 V St. NW. The Smashing Pumpkins played the first gig there. (If you’re thirsty for more history, check out the Washington Post‘s 2010 oral history of the club.)

Today, the 9:30 Club is generally considered D.C.’s best music venue and one of the top clubs in the country.

Top photo: Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney performs at the 9:30 Club in February 2015.

In a statement, the I.M.P. chairman and Merriweather Post Pavilion operator says:

The Freefest was this fantastic product of a crossroads of [Richard] Branson [founder of the Virgin Group] and some very creative people at Virgin. The mixture got shaken up every year, and it always settled at the last possible moment for that year. That was part of the spontaneous magic that everyone could pick up on I think. Unfortunately, the pieces are not all there right now with Virgin. Whether they are again who knows. But the Freefest concept is fantastic and we are exploring options to continue it at Merriweather.

A spokesperson for Virgin Mobile USA announced the cancellation in a statement published by the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun. According to both outlets, the statement says VMU will instead make a “significant donation” to the organization that Freefest normally benefits: the Sasha Bruce RE*Generation House in D.C.

The Virgin Mobile Festival began in 2006 and went free-admission in 2009 when it debuted at Merriweather in Columbia, Maryland. In prior years the event took place at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course and other locations in Canada.

Previous Freefest lineups ran the gamut from flashy EDM to indie to R&B; last year’s big acts included Vampire Weekend and Robin Thicke.

Photo by Flickr user Cesar Perdomo used under a Creative Commons license.