VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. —The Something in the Water (SITW) music festival, created by Virginia Beach native and music superstar Pharrell Williams, will not take place in April in Virginia Beach.

The city is moving on from hosting the festival after organizers failed to announce a lineup and commence ticket sales by the Monday deadline set by city leaders.

A city spokesperson confirmed with WTKR minutes before 5 p.m. Monday that they hadn’t received any updates from organizers regarding the lineup and tickets.

The city also released the following statement:

“While the City values the positive impact and visibility the Something in the Water festival has had on Virginia Beach in years past, regretfully, organizers did not meet the cure notice requirements in terms of next steps. The SITW team will receive an official termination notice from the city. As a result, city staff will begin alternative plans for the weekend of April 26-27. We remain optimistic about future opportunities to work with the SITW team.”

Last Tuesday, frustrated leaders gave SITW organizers a final ultimatum, insisting that the lineup and tickets be made available by the close of business Monday.

City leaders had previously backed off missed deadlines but decided to send organizers a notice of breach following a lack of substantial updates from organizers.

The initial deadline to drop the festival’s lineup and start ticket sales was Dec. 31, as outlined in a sponsorship agreement between organizers and the city.

SITW organizers have not yet issued a statement about the city’s most recent actions.

Something in the Water History

Something in the Water was started in 2019 to take place at the end of April, which was known as College Beach Weekend in Virginia Beach.

The first year of the festival was considered a great success.

The pandemic led to the cancellation of the festival in 2020 and 2021.

Pharrell then decided to move the festival to Washington, D.C., in 2022, following concerns over city leadership at the time.

In 2023, it returned to Virginia Beach but got off to a delayed start on the first day and was canceled on the third day due to weather.

In late 2023, festival organizers said they planned to move SITW from April 2024 to October 2024 in an effort to avoid bad weather.

In September 2024, Pharrell announced the festival was postponed and moved to April 2025.

Why Pharrell says ‘Something in the Water’ festival has been postponed until April 2025

In a November 2024 meeting, Virginia Beach Mayor Robert Dyer expressed his frustration with SITW organizers.

“I am not a happy camper,” Mayor Dyer said. “Don’t mistake kindness for weakness. This is what I consider a culture of arrogance and disrespect for this council and the people of Virginia.”

Dyer said he was “very angry” and gave the organizers until the end of business on Friday, Nov. 1, to sign a contract with the city.

Robby Wells, the executive producer for the event, assured Mayor Dyer that organizers of the event, including Virginia Beach’s own Pharrell Williams, are not trying to mislead the city, but there are a lot of moving parts.

Virginia Beach threatens to pull the plug on Something in the Water

“Heartbreaking is the word that’s coming to mind. I’m sure there’s a more eloquent way to say it—when the vibe is arrogance because that’s definitely not the intent,” said Wells.

This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.

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The Virginia Department of Health reported Monday that two children have died because of the flu. 

First pediatric deaths of flu season

The backstory:

They are the first two influenza-associated pediatric deaths of the 2024-2025 flu season, officials said.

“With a heavy heart, the Virginia Department of Health mourns the loss of two young lives. Our sympathies go out to the families during this difficult time,” State Health Commissioner Dr. Karen Shelton said in a statement. 

“These losses are a sad reminder that while flu is common, it can be associated with serious illness and even death.”

Health Department officials said that one of the deaths occurred in Virginia’s Eastern Region and involved a young school-aged child, meaning 5 -12 years old. 

They said the other death occurred in the Central Region of Virginia and involved a teenager.

Low flu vaccination rates in Virginia

What they’re saying:

Officials also pointed out that vaccination coverage remains low in the Commonwealth for both children and adults, adding that only 30 percent of eligible Virginians reported receiving a flu vaccine this season.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said the low vaccination rate was not a surprise.

“We know nationally that rates of vaccination for influenza and other vaccines have all fallen off post-Covid, that people have become vaccine hesitant, that they’ve become complacent, and we know that when it comes to pediatric influenza deaths, one of the predictors is being unvaccinated,” Adalja told FOX 5. “So, when we see children die from influenza, often they are unvaccinated.”

It is unclear whether that was the case with the two recent Virginia deaths.

Still, state officials are urging Virginians to get vaccinated, wash their hands, cover up coughs and sneezes, and stay home when they feel sick.

FIRST ON FOX: JD Vance is “fulfilling his promise” to American voters as he makes his first trip as vice president to Damascus, Virginia, on Monday to visit areas affected by Hurricane Helene in late September.

It will be Vance’s second trip to Damascus since the hurricane swept across the southeast on Sept. 27, destroying parts of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida and leaving more than 200 people dead.

“Vice President Vance visited with Damascus residents in October after the town was ravaged by Hurricane Helene,” a spokesperson for the vice president told Fox News Digital. “He pledged to be back, and now he’s fulfilling his promise. The first week of this administration has made it clear that President Trump and Vice President Vance keep their word.”

Vance’s trip comes just days after President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and other politicians visited Asheville, Fletcher and Swannanoa, North Carolina, on Jan. 24, marking the now-president’s second trip to those areas since September.

HURRICANE SURVIVORS WHO MET TRUMP IN NORTH CAROLINA SHARE PRESIDENT’S WORDS THAT STUCK WITH THEM

Trump spoke in all three towns but allowed a group of locals who lost everything in Helene to share their own personal stories during his stop in Swannanoa. Some locals have taken issue with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) handling of the disaster, saying it has too much red tape for those in need of immediate assistance to get the help they need, whether it be housing, money or both.

“I’ll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA or maybe getting rid of FEMA,” Trump told reporters in North Carolina on Friday morning. “I think, frankly, FEMA is not good.”

FEMA EXTENDS TRANSITIONAL HOUSING PROGRAM FOR NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS DISPLACED BY HURRICANE HELENE

President Donald Trump speaks during a visit to a neighborhood affected by Hurricane Helene in Swannanoa, N.C., on Jan. 24, 2025. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump also promised that his administration would step in and assist North Carolina to fix the damage quickly, vowing to “do a good job” for the state. 

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“We’re going to fix it, and we’re going to fix it as fast as you can,” Trump said. “It’s a massive amount of damage. FEMA has really let us down, let the country down. And I don’t know if that’s [former President Joe] Biden’s fault or whose fault it is, but we’re going to take over. We’re going to do a good job.”

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.