VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — One of Pharrell Williams’ friends and collaborators let some potentially big news out on television recently.
In an episode of “The Pivot,” Virginia Beach raised Pusha T announced the Something in the Water Festival, the brainchild of Virginia Beach native Williams, will be moving to Washington D.C.
Sources not authorized to speak publicly on the matter have told 10 On Your Side that moving the music festival to Washington D.C. is in the works.
However, Williams and other festival officials have not officially confirmed the move or announced a date.
“Something In The Water is, like, probably one of the best things he’s had his hand in creating,” Pusha T said, referring to Williams.
Pusha T didn’t detail much more about the festival.
If it moves to DC, it’s still unclear when the festival would be held.
Something in the Water has only been held once: in 2019 at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. It was not held in 2020 or 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The first year of Something in the Water was in Virginia Beach and was largely successful. It took the place of College Beach Weekend, which had previously been associated with violence and some other issues, as mostly young African Americans gathered at the resort.
Williams said the festival was a tool to bring the community together, ease racial tensions, and bring about economic development opportunities. The inaugural 2019 festival had an economic impact of more than $24 million.
FULL COVERAGE: Something in the Water 2019
But after Williams’ cousin, 25-year-old Donovon Lynch, was shot and killed by a police officer in March 2021, the fate of the festival became unclear. Lynch was one of two people killed that night as violence erupted around midnight; the other was “Bad Girls Club” DeShayla Harris, who was fatally struck by a stray bullet. Eight other people were injured in shootings that night.
In the wake of Lynch’s death, which Virginia Beach officials have said was justified because police said Lynch brandished a handgun, Williams said the city is run by a “toxic energy” and hasn’t valued his proposed solutions.
“I wish the same energy I’ve felt from Virginia Beach leadership upon losing the festival would have been similarly channeled following the loss of my relative’s life,” Williams wrote in an announcement in October 2021.
