Alt-rock icons Weezer [ tickets ] and Blink-182 [ tickets ] have signed on to headline the 2009 Virgin Mobile Festival [ tickets ], which organizers have announced will be a free event.

"Times are tough and money's tight," reads an announcement posted at the festival's website. "That's why this year's Virgin Mobile FreeFest is on us. No really, we mean it."

Set to take place Aug. 30 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD, the event also is scheduled to feature Franz Ferdinand, Girl Talk, Jet, Mates of State, Public Enemy, Taking Back Sunday, The Bravery, The Hold Steady, The Natioinal, St. Vincent and Wale.

Although free, the show will be ticketed. Tickets will be available only online via Ticketmaster.com starting Sunday (6/27). The company has agreed to waive its service fees, and there will be no delivery fee for tickets reserved in advance and picked up at the Merriweather or 9:30 Club box offices from Aug. 21-28, according to organizers. (LiveDaily is an operating unit of Ticketmaster Entertainment, which also owns Ticketmaster.)

"Since we're picking up the cost of the tickets," reads a message posted at the festival's website, "we're asking each person who attends the Virgin Mobile FreeFest to donate $5 to youth homelessness through our charitable initiative, The RE*Generation."

Fans can make a donation via Ticketmaster while reserving their tickets, or via the festival's website.