Virginia Beach greenlights country music festival; adds new beach rodeo to spring lineup

VIRGINIA BEACH — The City Council on Tuesday approved a $1.5 million incentive for a three-day country music festival called Beach It! to be held June 23-25 on the beach.

Beach It! will include two stages between 1st and 8th streets and will be produced by Country Nation-Live Nation. The festival lineup will be announced Feb. 15, according to a release. Virginia Beach native Alana Springsteen, an emerging Nashville country music artist and songwriter, is expected to help Live Nation introduce festival details.

The incentive was approved in the council’s consent agenda. Councilman Chris Taylor was the lone “no” vote. In a briefing meeting earlier Tuesday, Taylor said he had concerns about the amount of financial support for a new event.

“I think $1.5 (million) is a little aggressive for the first time without any proven results,” Taylor said.

The sponsorship is based on the amount the city is budgeting to collect in admissions tax revenue generated by the festival, according to meeting documents.

Virginia Beach also will provide the festival complimentary use of the Boardwalk and beach, electricity for vendors and public safety, public works and fire department services.

Meanwhile, Virginia Beach is gearing up for a busy spring at the Oceanfront. Beach Events, the city’s entertainment contracting company, has added a beach rodeo to kick off the season, followed by the return of the Something in the Water festival in April.

Bulls & Barrels Beach Rodeo will feature cowboys and cowgirls from across the country competing in extreme bull riding, barrel racing and mini bull riding. It will be held April 15-16 on the sand at 3rd Street. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.

For more information, visit beacheventsvb.com.

Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com