Festival season is upon us and Pharrell has announced that his Something in the Water Festival is returning with a bumper array of musical guests including Tyler, The Creator, Lil Baby, Pusha T, Chloe X Halle and more.
The rapper and producer will also perform alongside the musical guests which, aside from the previously mentioned, also include Run The Jewels, Tierra Whack, Jon Batiste and Dave Matthews Band. The main news, however, is that the festival is relocating.
In 2019, the first iteration of the festival took place in Virginia Beach, Virginia but has now relocated to Washington D.C. and will take place on June 17th, 18th and 19th 2022. The news comes after Pharrell had previously cited “toxic energy” of city officials as a primary reason for the move, something which was compounded in 2021.
In March of the year, Pharrell’s cousin Donovan Lynch was shot dead by a Virginia Beach police officer while he was wearing a de-activated body camera. It has resulted in Pharrell moving his festival to pastures new.
In a statement on the festival, Pharrell said: “Something in the Water is a Black solution (LOVE) for a systemic issue, and this year we are taking our celebration to a higher platform—the nation’s Capital during Juneteenth Weekend. We want to show the world that there is Something in the Water across the whole DMV and I want to continue to bring awareness to the greatness within these communities and invite large corporations to show up for the people.
“D.C. has always been a deep inspiration to me as a person and a musician,” he continued. “It is the land where Go-Go Music was birthed which has provided so much for our people. Our sponsors continue to go the extra mile to show that Something in the Water is so much more than a festival. The goodwill we generate is a defining trait of who we are. We will always have the hottest artists, but to pair that energy with these brands showing up for the community is what makes this festival a vehicle for change.”
Watch Pharrell and the D.C. Mayor announce the relocation below.
