Something in the Water gets extension from Va. Beach

Pharrell Williams’ Something in the Water festival got a bit of a break Tuesday from Virginia Beach City Council members, who agreed to give the Virginia Beach-born music and fashion maven more time to fulfill an overdue part of the festival’s contract with the city.

City Council voted 8-2 Tuesday to indefinitely defer an earlier resolution that would have given Williams’ Something in the Water team a five-day deadline to announce the April 26-27 festival’s lineup or be in default of its contract — potentially leading to its cancellation. The issue arose when SITW did not meet a Dec. 31, 2024, deadline to start ticket sales and provide a full list of announced musicians to the city.

Mayor Bobby Dyer requested the original resolution, but at Tuesday night’s meeting, he agreed with Council member Amelia Ross-Hammond, who moved to defer that agenda item indefinitely. However, Ross-Hammond noted that she was only granting organizers so much grace. She requested that as of Jan. 14, the city manager and his staff report begin reporting weekly to Virginia Beach City Council on progress with the festival’s organizers, and that the mayor should be ready to call a special meeting if problems arise with the festival.

According to Ross-Hammond, SITW representatives have been in “multiple discussions” with city authorities over the past several days. “They are working towards bringing the festival to fruition,” she said. “We’re not sitting on our hands. We’ll be prepared, and so I’m asking our mayor to be ready just in case.”

Another councilor, Worth Remick, said that he understands that Dyer has spoken directly with Williams in recent days, “and he is going to take it upon himself to make this a success, and I trust in him to do that. I trust Mr. Williams to do the right thing.”

Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson said she’s heard from local hotels, and they too advocated for giving SITW festival organizers more time. “It doesn’t just help them, but it also helps all the citizens with what they add to the [economic] health of the city and helping to keep your taxes low and that sort of thing.”

Wilson and others said the organizers will have to communicate with the city and make progress in coming weeks.

Dyer recalled the 2019 festival, which was set up in a matter of months and brought in approximately 35,000 concert attendees. “It was magic.”

The 2019 festival brought in $24 million in revenue for Hampton Roads, and a report prepared for the city found that the 2023 festival generated an economic impact of $26 million to $29 million for the City of Virginia Beach.

After a successful debut in 2019, Something in the Water hit rough waters. In 2020 and 2021, the festival was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2022, Williams decided to host SITW in Washington, D.C., instead of Virginia Beach, after his cousin was shot and killed by a Virginia Beach police officer.

The festival returned to Virginia Beach in April 2023, with some canceled performances due to tornado threats and lightning. Williams then scheduled the 2024 festival for October 2024, but just after tickets went on sale last September, he unexpectedly called off the festival, writing, “Virginia doesn’t deserve better, Virginia deserves the best. So, Something in the Water has to match that. It just isn’t ready yet.”

After that, the city required SITW organizers to sign a contract with specific deadlines in order to receive $500,000 in funding from the city.

City Manager Patrick Duhaney said that so far, SITW has not received any funding from the city.