VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Beach is sponsoring two new festivals set to take place in 2024 at the Oceanfront.

Virginia Beach City Council approved the sponsorships on Tuesday night as part of their consent agenda.

The first will be run by Audacy Virginia, the local arm of the national media company that owns 2WD 101.3, 94.9 the point and Z104 among others.

The radio company first proposed festival for October of this year was nixed due to logistical issues. It’s still expected to include national acts from contemporary, pop and hip-hop/R&B genre, the latter of which council wanted to make sure was included.

The national acts would play on a stage at 31st street facing South, while local acts perform on the resorts 17th and 24th street stages.

The City is giving Audacy the same sponsorship amount they had pledged for the October festival, $750,000 to be used to market Virginia Beach on their radio stations across the country. The city will also through in use of police, fire and public works for free.

The 2024 Audacy festival is slated for April 26-28, which is typically the time slot for Something in the Water, but WAVY learned Pharrell Williams’ festival could now be held in October instead.

Council also approved $300,000 upfront sponsorship on Tuesday for a reggae festival planned from May 31-June 2 by Imgoing. This festival will use stages on the beach at 3rd street and 6th street according to a presentation from the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The agreement also allows organizers to keep all admissions, meal taxes and local sales taxes that are earned in the festival footprint, similar to what was approved for Something in the Water.

“Reggae music has done well in this area for many years.  Whether it’s been in the parks at the oceanfront, American Music Festivals or when we did it at The Boathouse in the 90’s,” Ken McDonald, President of IMGoing said. “There have been other successful reggae festivals in coastal communities in the U.S.  The Virginia Beach oceanfront is a beautiful location for concerts on the water.  The time is right.”

The public had little time to view the proposals as they were only presented to City Council hours before the vote.

Last week, City Council approved the creation of a “Festival Task Force” in order to create a process that allows the city to sponsor festivals in an equitable manner.

Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson said they could not wait for the task force recommendations in this case.