Updated: Friday, January 31
‘Something in the Water’, a three-day music festival hosted by Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams, has been a long-time event held in Virginia Beach and Northern Virginia, since 2019. Its on-and-off tendencies raised red flags due to multiple issues that plagued the festival over the years including weather, politics, and unwillingness to reach deadlines. The festival has big plans for spring this year, but yet again, has run into major issues.
The City of Virginia Beach, Williams, and his team, did reach an agreement in mid-November of last year, after ‘Something in the Water’ was again canceled at the last minute in October.
According to the Virginian-Pilot, this contract would fund a total of $500,000 for the event from the city, and be paid periodically and all parties involved signed the agreement. However, Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer put pressure on event organizers behind the Something in the Water Festival after these same event planners and organizers agreed to release a set list, along with ticket sales by Tuesday, December 31, but failed to meet that deadline.
After meeting with city council leaders, it was decided that Dyer would give organizers a five-day notice after the December 31 date to produce the information needed to fulfill the city’s sponsorship agreement.
Also according to the Virginian-Pilot, Dyer told event organizers that if they failed to produce the necessary information within the five-day grace period, the city could potentially terminate the agreement and rid them of their sponsorship, which would end funding from the city to the event.
Dyer and City Council members met with event organizers once again on January 7, in hopes of reaching an amicable conclusion and to retain the event. After an 8-2 split vote within the council, the majority vote gave event planners until Tuesday, January 14, to release the needed information to the public.
The public is still currently waiting to see if Something in the Water organizers offer up ticket prices and a set lineup for the event which is scheduled to be held Saturday, April 26-Sunday, April 27.
Update:
According to 13NewsNow, on Tuesday, January 28, the ‘Something in the Water’ music festival was officially canceled for this spring, after the Virginia Beach City Council issued a contract termination. The city council gave event organizers a second extended deadline to produce a lineup for ticket sales, but planners failed to release the required information.
Council members are now on the hunt for a replacement event that is similar to the ‘BEACH IT’ festival, from two years ago, to make up for the cancellation. The city council plans to hold several meetings to discuss the future for this upcoming spring.
City leaders have released an invite to Virginia Beach residents to offer ideas or potential events to bring attraction back to the city.
