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Pharrell Williams has cancelled the 2025 edition of his US festival Something in the Water as “it just isn’t ready yet”.
The fourth edition was due to take place on 12–13 October at Virginia Beach Oceanfront in Williams’ home city.
In a post on social media, the singer-songwriter-producer wrote: “Virginia doesn’t deserve better, Virginia deserves THE BEST. So Something in the Water has to match that. It just isn’t ready yet. That’s why we as a team have decided we must postpone this year’s Something in the Water festival that was due to take place in October.
“This is not a Pharrell festival, this is the state of Virginia’s festival so it has to be the best,” he continues. “Virginia made me, and I want to honour it with as much love as it’s shown me my entire life. I am so grateful to our amazing sponsors and the city for their continued support and trust in us to get this right.”
“Virginia made me, and I want to honour it with as much love as it’s shown me my entire life”
The next edition of the festival is slated to take place in April 2025, with Williams adding “This has to be EPIC, and trust me, after this long wait, it will be.”
News of the cancellation arrived hours after a tier of exclusive tickets was released to Virginia residents, some of which were purchased in person. A line-up for Something in the Water 2024 had not been revealed.
Ticketholders will be refunded and will have first access to purchase tickets for the next edition, according to organisers.
Of the previous three iterations of Something in the Water, one had an entire day cancelled due to weather while another was staged in Washington, D.C. over Williams’ issues with Virginia Beach after his cousin was killed by a local officer.
In the past, the festival has featured performances from Clipse, Justin Timberlake, Post Malone, Usher, Wu-Tang Clan and many more.
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