VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Something in the Water Festival (SITW) was set to return to Virginia Beach Oceanfront in April 2025, but issues between organizers and the city may end up canceling the famous annual event.
On Monday, during a city council work session, Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer said that he is angry about the length of time the contract has been taking SITW organizers to produce and how the postponements have negatively affected Virginia Beach.
"I have a problem when a partner of ours fails to communicate and makes a unilateral decision that gives our city a black eye," Dyer stated. "If they do not have this signed, sealed and delivered by close of business on Friday, on Tuesday I will be making a recommendation that we pull the plug and go in a different direction."
SITW organizers have requested April 26 and 27 to be the dates of the music festival in 2025. Pharrell Williams announced the cancellation of this year's music festival, which was planned for October.
A statement signed by Pharrell Williams said "Virginia doesn't deserve better, Virginia deserves THE BEST. So SOMETHING IN THE WATER has to match that. It just isn't ready yet. That's why we as a team have decided we must postpone this year's SOMETHING IN THE WATER festival that was due to take place in October."
City officials back in October said they were working on finalizing a contract for the new dates.
“We can confirm Something in the Water organizers requested April 26 & 27 as the dates for the festival. We plan to move forward with planning to ensure a safe and successful event for the community while the contract is being finalized,” a city spokeswoman said via email.
Virginia Beach City council members also said they felt "blindsided" following the announcement, as some members said they found out about the delay just an hour before the rest of the world did.
Members discussed solidifying ways to collaborate with the festival differently in the future, possibly moving from the previous Memorandum of Understanding to a three-year or five-year contract, along with increased communication and progress payments. The deadline to deliver that contract was supposed to be Nov. 1, but SITW organizers did not meet that deadline.
Robby Wells, the festival's executive producer, said this was because he "naively" thought he could "spin [the contract] quickly."
But he said at the work session that Team Pharrell Williams and the rest of the SITW team hope to meet Dyer's and City Council's terms.
"I hear your deadline, I think it's super fair, it's very real and understandable," Wells said.