VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Mayor Bobby Dyer said the city is “moving on” from the Something in the Water music festival this year, but didn’t rule out bringing the event back in the future.

Tuesday morning, City Manager Patrick Duhaney sent members of the festival team an email terminating the sponsorship agreement for 2025, after no talent lineup was released or tickets sold prior to the new year, as laid out in the contract.

Virginia Beach City Council initially gave the event team an extension, with the understanding that there would be weekly status updates.

However, citing communication issues, last week Dyer recommended the city pull the plug.

“There there has been minimal communication, and that was a major concern and it was a factor in our decision,” Dyer said Tuesday. “We gave Something in the Water tremendous amounts of opportunities, … but we just hit the wall. We had to make a tough decision.”

The festival, led by city native, music producer and fashion designer Pharrell Williams, received critical acclaim when it launched in 2019 for helping to solve a problem the city had on the fourth weekend in April.

For years, an unsanctioned event dubbed “college beach weekend,” would bring thousands of students from Historic Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs, out to the Oceanfront resort. The event became associated with violence and highlighted the longstanding racial tensions in the community.

Something in the Water became a “we did it moment” for many, as it brought together people of all creeds an colors for a peaceful and profitable weekend.

But by 2024, many of those attitudes turned to disappointment as the multi-day music festival located at the Oceanfront was postponed from October 2024 to April 2025, just a few hours after tickets went on sale.

The city, in an attempt to prevent another “snafu,” as Dyer described it, put more guardrails on the festival relationship.

There has been no comment from Williams camp since the termination.

On the city’s side, Dyer said Beach Streets, part of the local live event promoter IMGoing, will be programming the weekend.

“We are so blessed to have the creative culture right here in Virginia Beach,” Dyer said. “We’re going to make it happen.”

When it comes to Something in the Water, he said he isn’t shutting the door.

“It didn’t work out this year,” Dyer said. “We’re moving on, but we’re willing to open the door. You know, I would love nothing better over the summer to get together with Pharrell, sit in my office, have a chat and build some bridges.”