Something In The Water Ain’t Clean: Pharrell Williams Cancels Annual Festival Hours After Tickets Go On Sale

Pharrell Williams has canceled his annual music festival, Something In the Water, hours after tickets for the Virginia-based event went on sale.

Though fans lined up for early access to tickets for locals, organizers confirmed that the event was officially cancelled and rescheduled for April 2025 mere hours later. Williams posted a statement to the official Instagram page for the event.

“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 have decided we must postpone this year’s SOMETHING IN THE WATER that was due to take place in October,” the statement reads. “This is not a Pharrell festival, this is the state of Virginia’s festival so it has to be the best.”

The festival has not been without its fair share of issues since its inception as this seems to be the latest in its growing pains. In 2021, Williams moved the festival to Washington, DC following the Virginia Beach police department’s mishandling of the killing of his cousin, Donovon Lynch. The following year, SITW returned to its location of origin, but inclement weather caused the cancellation of an entire day of the festival.

Nevertheless, Pharrell is keeping busy promoting Lego-animated documentary film Piece by Piece. In his cover story with The Hollywood Reporter, the producer-songwriter opened up about his journey through the entertainment industry as well as his current relationship with his longtime Neptunes collaborator, Chad Hugo.

“I always wish him the absolute best,” Pharrell said of Hugo before confirming the two were not on speaking terms. “But I love him and I’m very grateful for our time together.”

The strain on the relationship between the two hitmakers came to a head earlier this year when Hugo filed a lawsuit against his former collaborator. His allegations stemmed from alleged trademark applications filed by Williams for the duo’s N.E.R.D band name, his Miami hotel and other endeavors without consulting Hugo.

“Throughout their over 30 year history, [Hugo] and Williams agreed to, and in fact, have divided all assets,” Hugo’s attorney Kenneth D. Freundlich stated. “By ignoring and excluding [Hugo] from the any and all applications filed by applicant for the mark ‘The Neptunes,’ applicant has committed fraud in securing the trademarks and acted in bad faith.”

Here’s to hoping the two can find a way to make amends.