VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach native and Grammy award-winning artist Pharrell Williams announced Something in the Water's return to the 757 during his Mighty Dream Forum on Wednesday.
Festival organizers already set a date for the last weekend of April and even scheduled a time for tickets to go on sale.
However, the sudden sale is catching some Virginia Beach City Council members off guard.
"Selling tickets this Saturday was a surprise to me. That was not in the original contemplation of the discussions I participated in," said Councilman Michael Berlucchi. "However, apparently that is a risk festival organizers are willing to take because they have to do what they have to do to get this festival up and running and off the ground if we're going to see it occur at the last weekend of April in 2023."
Berlucchi said city council members only confirmed when the festival would take place in Virginia Beach. He said there are still many terms and proposals they have to review with festival organizers before they move forward.
To his knowledge, Berlucchi said festival organizers have not submitted any application for an event permit as of Thursday evening. He confirmed there is no finalized paperwork for festival permits.
Before they even review with the organizers about what to do next, Berlucchi said he and his fellow city council members want to hear from the public.
"Essentially, it's a proposal and negotiating position, so I think we as a community need to sort through those terms and determine what the best path forward is for the citizens of VB and the festival itself," Berlucchi said.
In the next city council meeting on Tuesday, November 15, the members will open a public hearing session in the council chambers where people from the community are invited to voice their opinions, concerns, and hopes for the festival.
Berlucchi said he plans to discuss the proposed contract terms with community members to create transparency regarding the festival and what it will bring to the city.
City council members are expected to vote on the contract terms in December.
13News Now reached out to the communications team for the festival to learn more about the plans and the timeline of when they hope to have future discussions with city council, but we did not receive a response as of Thursday evening.