Today (March 15), visionary recording artist, producer, songwriter, philanthropist, fashion designer, and entrepreneur, Pharrell Williams revealed the lineup to his highly anticipated SOMETHING IN THE WATER festival that is returning to Virginia Beach from Friday, April 28 – Sunday, April 30. Presented by Walmart and produced by IMGoing and Live Nation, SITW will celebrate art, culture and music with performances by 100 Gecs, Aminé, Ayra Starr, Babyface Ray, BADBADNOTGOOD, Black Sherif, CHIKA, Clipse, Coi Leray, d4vd, Doechii, Feid, FLO, Flo Milli, gigi, Grace Jones, Jay Pharoah, Jazmine Sullivan, Jessie Murph, Kamasi Washington, KayCyy, KAYTRANADA, Kehlani, Kenny Beats, Kid Cudi, Kitty Ca$h, Latto, Lil Durk, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Wayne, Lil Yachty, Machine Gun Kelly, Maren Morris, Masego, Mumford & Sons, Nile Rodgers & CHIC, NLE Choppa, Polo G, Remi Wolf, Riovaz, Saucy Santana, Skrillex, Summer Walker, SWV, The Kid LAROI, UMI, Wale, Weston Estate, Wet Leg, Wu-Tang Clan, YEИDRY, yvngxchris and Pharrell’s Phriends.

Source: ATLPics.com / ATLPics.com

This year marks the first that Walmart has teamed up with Something in the Water as the festival’s presenting sponsor, but celebrating and helping communities thrive is nothing new for the retailer. With a footprint of more than 4,600 stores across the United States, Walmart is committed to strengthening community resilience by advancing equity and belonging, and supporting local organizations and causes that matter to its customers and associates.

“Strengthening local communities is core to Walmart’s DNA,” said Cedric Clark, executive vice president, store operations for Walmart U.S. “By investing in our associates and in the communities we serve, we help build a foundation where people can live their full potential every day. We’re excited to team up with Something in the Water, returning to a special place to Walmart, Virginia’s Hampton Roads, to help celebrate and empower this community we’re so proud to be a part of.”

Source: Mark Von Holden / Getty

YouTube is livestreaming the Something in the Water festival all weekend, bringing this moment in music culture to the world’s stage. Tune in to see full live sets, performance videos from headliners and festival artists, and YouTube Shorts with even more action. Something in the Water 2023 will be on Pharrell’s YouTube channel – subscribe and turn on notifications to catch it all in real time.

One lucky fan was the first to discover the line up at the King Neptune statue on the Virginia Beach oceanfront  today and was awarded a pair of tickets to this year’s festival. Three day passes are on sale now at SOMETHINGINTHEWATER.COM. During the festival, please make sure to leverage the festival app, website and social media for the latest on community activities and other activations.

The festival livestream is powered by Bulldog DM.

Source: Zoe Ghertner / LVR Magazine

Black Ambition Events and Opportunities

The Festival is committed to supporting local underrepresented entrepreneurs and positioning them to excel, uninterrupted. With support from Walmart as a Presenting Sponsor, Pharrell’s Black Ambition, a nonprofit initiative working to close the wealth gap through investments in Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs, will host a series of curated events and funding opportunities for entrepreneurs. Activations will include an exclusive So Ambitious Dinner that will connect founders with funders and other ecosystem builders and a Pull Up & Pitch competition hosted in collaboration with Black Girl Ventures that will award more than $50K to local entrepreneurs.

Expanded Collaboration with The City of Virginia Beach

Beyond working with the City of Virginia Beach to execute the activities along the oceanfront, the festival is teaming up with the Department of Economic Development for a small business event at Mt. Trashmore with live music and food on April 14th, partnering with the Public Libraries to highlight their broad offerings, the Department of Human Services to highlight wellness initiatives within the community, and the Convention and Visitors Bureau to draw national and international attention to the city’s broader entertainment-centric positioning and destination offering. Additional programs in collaboration with The City of Virginia Beach to be announced.

Local Music and Community Businesses

In addition to the two primary stages on the beach and the Sunday Pop-Up Church stage, the festival is working closely with local music and entertainment organizers to program the three oceanfront parks located at 17th Street, 24th Street and 31st Street. Social Supply, Team L.A.M.B & Where the Heart Is, and the organizers of Norfolk’s successful R&B Block Party are working with the festival to bring their individual brands of multi-genre entertainment to Something In The Water. For the three days of the festival, each stage will be free to the public and include a marketplace component of local businesses and non-profits invited to help round out the experience.

Beyond the Beach

Festival organizers have worked collaboratively with the Atlantic Avenue Association, Virginia Beach Restaurant Association, other local organizations and sponsors to make sure the festival experience extends well beyond the beach. As in past years, expect a number of creative collaborations with local craft brewers, restaurants, retailers and local venues. The Virginia Beach Restaurant Association has announced “Something on the Menu” – a citywide dining event April 23-30, 2023, in partnership with the festival. In addition, the festival is proud to support “A Seat At The Table” on April 27th from 6-11 pm, a celebration of Black arts and culture featuring live music, prominent artists, food trucks and more — to benefit the Urban League of Hampton Roads, Inc. hosted by Virginia MOCA. The festival will offer a broader “Community” online directory outlining the numerous ways festival-goers can experience more within the community while the community can experience more of the festival. Expect much, much more to come.

Support + Feed Partnership

Support + Feed, founded by Maggie Baird, works towards a global shift to an equitable, plant-based food system to combat food insecurity and mitigate the climate crisis. Support + Feed is partnering with Something in The Water and Dr. Eric Esrailian to bring their organization to the community of Virginia Beach with programming & distribution of plant-based meals. Together, alongside SITW they will deliver 5,000+ plant based meals and educational resources to local communities for the next year amplifying the connection between our plates and the climate crisis. By investing in local plant based restaurants and working with community leaders Support + Feed will continue to create impact long after the festival has ended.