VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — City leaders and organizers held a community meeting Monday evening to address questions ahead of the “Something In the Water” festival.
Pharrell Williams’ highly anticipated festival is scheduled for April 26 through April 28 at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. Several national acts are scheduled to perform across the three-day event, which is sold out.
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City leaders are encouraging concert-goers to shuttle to the Oceanfront from a parking lot on General Booth Boulevard and Dam Neck Road.
At the meeting, festival organizers talked about a regional shuttle company, Festdrive, who’ve transported for other large events.
They said they arranged everything based on where ticket buyers are located.
Locations mentioned were Durham, North Carolina, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.
“I think everyone has concerns in itself, which is OK, and our job is to make sure we alleviate those concerns but not let fear stagnate our future,” said city councilman Aaron Rouse.
City officials touched on security, which will consist of the Virginia Beach Police Department, Sheriff’s Office, and even state police agencies working together.
They also noted that the festival organizers hired 187 private security personnel for the event too.
As far as fest-goers are concerned, officials say there will be a soft wristband check, MEG scanners like the ones in the airport, and a bag check, all before the ticket line.
“I think when you bring in world class promoters who know what they’re doing as well an our staff has been on board around the clock to make sure this festival is safe,” added Rouse.
The police department is also looking for community members to monitor what they do over that weekend through an observer program, where 84 spots are available.
Maps with the event’s footprint where shown as well as the announcement of an app set to go live on Tuesday which will provide live input on traffic backups.
Festival officials say they will be using all their social media platforms, including Nextdoor, to dish out information as it’s available.
Virginia Beach resident Andrew Jackson says he was impressed with how prepared the city was.
“Anything the planners haven’t thought about will usually come out in one of these meetings, someone will ask a question and that will do it, but it looks like but maybe because this event is so much larger than the others, the planning has been a lot more thorough,” said Jackson.
Festival organizers say they sold out at 35,000 tickets and revealed new aspects of the event such as a basketball court, and partnerships with Adidas and Sony.
They also mentioned a vendor market with 76 vendors, and Trap Karaoke sign ups to open soon.
The city approved a plan last week to use 70 school buses to bring people to and from the Oceanfront.
The idea to use school buses appears to be divisive. Several thousand viewers chimed in a on a Facebook poll from 10 On Your Side’s Kiahnna Patterson — with 52% of voters saying they believe it is a good idea.
The plan still has to get the OK from the school board before it goes into effect. If the plan gets the go-ahead, festival organizers will have to reimburse the city for the cost of using the buses.
City spokersperson Julie Hill announced over 400 busdrivers offered to drive for the event, and would get paid time and a half.
She says the city will pay for the use and it won’t come from taxpayers’ pockets.
Rouse said a festival this size would normally take between 18 to 24 months, but was expedited down to 5 months in this case thanks to great teamwork.
Festival officials say the line up times for the artists will not be announced until April 14.
