VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Warm temperatures Saturday at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront brought out some pretty good crowds. However, in about two weeks, the resort area will fill up even more.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend Pharrell Williams’ Something in the Water music and culture festival.
Some portable spotlights, tents, trailers, and fences are already staged at Rudee Loop. The pieces of equipment are slimming parking space by the inlet.
Up and down the main strip though, business owners and managers are gearing up for especially high volume at the end of this month.
Colin Smith, founder and owner of Lyfestyle Meals, told 13News Now some of his staff are attending Something in the Water. So, he said he is hiring family and friends to fill any gaps that weekend.
“I think there’s going to be a little bit more bandwidth of tourism throughout the entire Oceanfront. We’ll gear up for that, as far as parking goes, concessions, whatever we can do to help folks out who are visiting," said Smith.
And Ashley Vestal, director of marketing at Dough Boy’s Pizza, said they are stocking up extra on supplies and continuing to hire for positions like bartenders, servers, cooks. Anyone interested is asked to apply online.
“It means so much for it to be back in town. Even people coming in, hearing about it. And you can hear a lot of chatter within the local folks just talking about Something in the Water coming back," said Vestal. "We're really expecting it to be bigger and better than it was the last time."
Both Vestal and Smith said they are also anticipating Something in the Water to usher in a strong summer season for the Oceanfront.
"This was a little bit of a slower summer in 2022. We are already seeing a little bit more foot traffic outside [...] with more folks coming down here, enjoying the weather we've had in the last few weeks," said Smith. "So, I'm really excited for a busy, busy summer at the Oceanfront."