VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer and City Manager Patrick Duhaney delivered the 2023 State of the City address on Wednesday afternoon.
Mayor Dyer teased other new experiences coming to the Oceanfront soon!
He focused the address on the future and what the community can look forward to in their own backyard.
The new Jackalope Festival, which Dyer announced last year, is making its debut on U.S. soil on June 2. Wednesday, he announced legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk is going to come to town for the event.
“Don’t miss out, it’s going to be an iconic moment," said festival founder Micah Desforges.
Desforges said people will see a variety of extreme sports.
“We have a skatepark being built right on the Oceanfront for the weekend," Desforges said. "A bouldering wall, climbing wall. We also have base jumping people, people jumping with their parachute on top of the Hilton hotel.”
Dyer also announced the beach event season kicks off in just a month, with the Bulls and Barrels Beach Rodeo right on the sand.
That’s followed by the Something in the Water and Beach It! music festivals. And then an immersive Van Gogh art experience will take over the convention center in July.
"By having all of these different types of events at the Oceanfront, it's something for everybody," Dyer said.
The business community is growing too. Dyer said big technology and manufacturing companies like Drone Up, Sanjo and STIHL are expanding their buildings and creating more jobs in the coming years.
City Manager Patrick Duhaney said Old Dominion University is also working to bring a new institute of data science to the Town Center area.
“We are growing, we are thriving, this is who we are," Dyer said. "We are 60 years strong.”
This summer, Mayor Dyer said his youth violence prevention taskforce members will offer expanded programming and activities for the community in a program called parks after dark. They worked with the parks and recreation department to put that together.