New festivals keep popping up across the country as an increasingly influential part in the music industry, Something in the Water wants to be something different – the vehicle for building and strengthening a community. Created by Pharrell Williams and produced by Live Nation, the first annual music festival Something in the Water will be held on April 26, 27 & 28 in Virginia Beach, VA. The inaugural 2019 lineup looks surreal. Featuring Pharrell and his friends, the festival gathers an all-star lineup mostly covering Hip Hop and R&B genres, such as Travis Scott, Migos, Dave Matthews Band, Missy Elliott, J Balvin, Janelle Monae, SZA, Lil Uzi Vert, Diplo, Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals, Pusha T, Kaytranada, Ferg, Jhené Aiko, Rosalía, Maggie Rogers, Mac DeMarco, Masego, Virgil Abloh, DRAM, Leikeli47, Jaden Smith, Radiant Children, John-Robert and more.
The idea of the festival was inspired by Pharrell’s awareness – return what he achieved and what he had to his hometown where raised and shaped him. In Pharrell’s words, “Allen Iverson. Missy Elliott. Dave Matthews Band. Ella Fitzgerald. Virginia has been home to some of the most gifted artists, athletes, and scientists to ever live. And it makes sense – the people of Virginia are one-of-a-kind: uniquely gritty, bold, and brilliant,” he continued “For the first time, we are harnessing that energy, bringing the great minds of our time and the biggest brands in the world to this great place, and letting the inspiration flow and well-deserved opportunities unfold. Virginia needs this right now and the world will see what we Virginians have known all along: there really is Something in the Water.”
The weekend will also include a special screening of The Burial of Kojo written, directed and scored by Samuel “Blitz” Bazawule. This is a conversation presented by Ava Duvernay’s ARRAY founded in 2010, a film collective dedicated to the amplification of images by people of color and women directors. ARRAY will premiere The Burial of Kojo on March 31 on Netflix.
The festival features with several events that will be held in Convention Center, Vibe Arts District, a stretch of Atlantic Ave and the beach. It is not only a pure music celebration but also a collected distribution where encapsulates music, education, sports, art and culture, health and wellness and more. According to Pharrell, the mission behind the festival is assembling “everyone from the youth to the small business owners” to celebrate the magic and diversity of Virginia and empowering more and more young generations.
Tickets will go on sale on March 8 at 12:00 p.m. EST on Something In The Water’s website.
Photo credit: Raymond Flotat
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