VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Tickets for this year’s Something in the Water festival from Pharrell Williams had gone on sale Friday to Virginia residents first, but Pharrell Williams announced later in the day that the festival would be postponed until April.
Something in the Water postponed to April 2025, Pharrell Williams announces A large crowd showed up well before 10 a.m. Friday, when tickets for Virginia residents went on sale at the Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater in Virginia Beach.
Friday was also expected to bring the lineup for the festival on Oct. 12-13, before Pharrell’s late afternoon announcement via social media, but it never came.
He said anyone who bought festival passes with a debit or credit card will automatically be refunded. For anyone who paid in cash, people can get their refund at the Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater box office.
Pharrell said anyone who bought passes for this year’s event will have first access to buy passes once the new dates are announced. He said “that time is April 2025.”
The local presale tickets were going for $180 for general admission and $450 for VIP (both with no fees) for the two-day event, which had only been available, briefly, for in-person sales from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday until the announcement of the festival’s postponement.
The “locals only” sale had been for Virginia residents only, and people had to show a government-issued ID that has a Virginia zip code, organizers said.
After the announcement on Thursday about local sales, many potential festival goers said they weren’t thrilled with the way things were rolled out this year, including the delay in announcing the lineup.
“Yeah let me take off work real quick with no notice,” wrote one person in the comments of Something in the Water’s announcement post about the locals presale.
“And in person sales on a Friday? Some people have jobs and can’t wait in line all day,” said another, who suggested the presale have evening hours for those who work during the day.
Others who lived further away in Virginia said they wish organizers had an online presale with a code for Virginia residents like they’ve done before.
Despite the criticism, many said they were still thrilled to go.
“And I’m still going. SITW is a vibe!!” wrote one commenter.
Meanwhile this year was to mark the first time Something in the Water to being held in the fall. The 2019 and 2023 shows in Virginia Beach were on the last weekend of April, on what used to be “College Beach Weekend.” The 2022 festival, which was moved to Washington, D.C., was held on Juneteenth weekend (June 17-19).
The changes were made after Williams expressed concerns about inclement weather affecting the festival in the past . The first day of the 2019 festival was canceled due to storms and the first day of the 2023 event was delayed due to rain.
This year’s music lineup had also been reduced down from three days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) to two days (Saturday and Sunday). That Friday, Oct. 11, was to feature a celebrity golf tournament and the premiere of “Piece by Piece,” a movie about Williams’ life in Lego form .
Williams also has another Virginia Beach-inspired movie coming out called “Atlantis.” The musical featuring Janelle Monae, Quinta Brunson, Missy Elliott and more is expected to coincide with the opening of the new Atlantic Park project at the Oceanfront in May 2025 .
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