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If your memories of the first Something in the Water festival include frustration with excessive road closures around the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, expect a much different experience getting around the resort area this weekend.
Anticipation for the three-day event’s inaugural run, which was meant to replace the unofficial and sometimes chaotic College Beach Weekend, prompted law enforcement to take a “hands on” approach to managing the influx of tens of thousands of concertgoers. This year, with a expected attendance of 50,000 people, police will be “hands off” with regard to traffic but maintain a “robust” presence, according to a spokesperson for the Virginia Beach Police Department.
While the 2019 event was a success, the feedback from attendees and local business owners was highly critical of the police decision to preemptively shut down much of the Oceanfront. People complained that they struggled to access their hotels and businesses, or navigate the area in general.
The only area that will close to traffic for the duration of the festival this year is the footprint of the event itself, according to police spokesperson Jude Brenya.
“Most of the Oceanfront area was blocked (in 2019) and basically we just diverted traffic to try and get less traffic down in the Oceanfront,” Brenya said. “This year the idea is to have traffic just flow on its own but there are gonna be times where maybe just for safety, if it’s like a gridlock where it might need public safety interaction to have traffic movement, that’s where you will have officers temporarily divert traffic. But it’s not going to be for the whole duration of the event.”
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Brenya said police will monitor traffic cameras to determine when intervention is needed, and that these diversions of traffic should only last about 10-20 minutes.
VBPD shared its traffic plan with the public earlier this month. The department said Atlantic Avenue from 5th Street to Rudee Inlet will close starting Thursday. Atlantic Avenue will shut down from 17th Street to Rudee Loop for the event’s entirety.
Police have contingency plans for criminal incidents, Brenya said. All days off for officers were canceled for the festival weekend and leave was restricted. Many officers will be receiving overtime, but Brenya was unable to provide an exact amount of overtime payouts expected.
“This event is an all-hands-on-deck weekend,” Brenya said in an email.
Officers will focus on bigger incidents and use discretion on smaller ones.
“It’s always prepare for the worst but hope for the best,” Brenya said.
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College Beach Weekend’s reputation as being violent isn’t exactly accurate. The Virginian-Pilot reported in 2019 that incidents of crime during the unstructured event were roughly in line with the incidents reported on July Fourth weekend. But those festivities haven’t received the same scrutiny, likely due to the racial makeup of the participants.
VBPD will be supported by the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office, Virginia State Police, Norfolk police, the FBI and Newport News Fire Department, among others, Brenya said. The festival organizers have also hired five companies to mange security within the festival’s footprint.
Brenya encouraged concertgoers to help law enforcement keep people safe by reporting concerns, and to feel free to strike up a conversation with officers.
“We’re there to support it. We want it here. We want it to be successful. So you’re going to have officers out there that are approachable — stop and talk to us, we’re human beings just like y’all.”
Gavin Stone, 757-712-4806, gavin.stone@virginiamedia.com