Pharrell Williams Cancels Something in the Water Festival, Postpones to April 2025

Pharrell Williams has canceled his upcoming annual Something in the Water Festival, scheduled to take place on Oct. 12-13 at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.

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In a post on social media, he explained that he decided to cancel the festival because it wasn’t ready to present to the public. “Virginia doesn’t deserve better, Virginia deserves THE BEST,” he wrote. “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.”

Williams, who is native to Virginia, explained that the festival has grown to become bigger than himself, and that he wants to stage the proper event to rep for his home state. “Virginia made me, and I want to honor it with as much love as it’s shown me my entire life. And you know me, everywhere I go it’s VA.”

At the end of his letter, Williams shared that he’s eyeing April 2025 as the tentative date for the show. “I am so grateful to our amazing sponsors and the city for their continued support and trust in us to get this right, and that time is April 2025,” he wrote. “This has to be EPIC, and trust me, after this long wait, it will be. Thank you for your support, love and understanding.”

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Those who have purchased festival passes will be refunded and will have first access to purchase tickets once the new show is announced. News of the festival’s cancellation came more than six hours after a tier of exclusive tickets was released to Virginia residents, with some purchasing tickets in person.

Of the previous three iterations of Something in the Water, one had an entire day canceled due to weather while another was staged in Washington, D.C. over Williams’ issues with Virginia Beach after his cousin was killed by a local officer. In the past, Something in the Water has featured performances from Clipse, Justin Timberlake, Post Malone, Usher, Wu-Tang Clan and many more.

Williams is currently focused on the release of his upcoming documentary “Piece by Piece,” which had its international premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. The film, directed by Morgan Neville, takes an unusual approach to telling Williams’ life story, using animated Lego characters in place of actual people.

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