Audacy announces headliners for April festival at Virginia Beach Oceanfront

VIRGINIA BEACH — College students heading to Virginia Beach to vacation at the end of April will have the option of attending a new, “affordable” music festival featuring hip hop artists Tee Grizzley and Juicy J.

Audacy’s Oceanfront Concerts will be held April 26-28, the same weekend the Something in the Water festival was previously held.

Tee Grizzley and Juicy J will headline the weekend with concerts on 31st Street. Additional performers will be announced and tickets will go on sale Friday at audacyoceanfrontconcerts.com.

Shaun Buford, vice president of Audacy, Inc., the radio company producing the event, made the announcement at a City Council meeting Tuesday.

Prices are still being finalized, but a two-day pass will cost less than $100, and single day tickets less than $50, according to Bennett Zier, Audacy’s senior vice president.

“We are aiming this for the students,” Zier said.

The weekend will also include free activities in the 17th and 24th street public parks. Buford said 17th Street Park will feature art-related events, and 24th Street Park will host DJs.

The City Council has agreed to provide Audacy with $750,000 and in-kind city services in exchange for national radio advertising promoting Virginia Beach tourism. The company owns more than 200 radio stations nationwide and four locally.

The festival was initially billed as featuring rock and pop acts but later expanded to include pop, R&B, rap and contemporary music. Audacy officials previously said the genre changes were made to appeal to college students who have traditionally flocked to Virginia Beach this time of year. The time frame coincides with College Beach Weekend, when thousands of students from historically Black colleges and universities vacation in the resort city.

Something in the Water will be held in October, the city has said.

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