Pharrell’s Something in the Water festival took place this past weekend in Washington, DC. For three days, 70 of music’s biggest acts descended upon DC’s National Mall for performances in front of over 50,000 attendees. Pharrell moved the show to DC from his native Virginia after the police killing of his cousin Donovan Lynch. He told USA Today, “Why not take this Black solution to a systemic issue to a higher platform? Why not take Virginia with me to D.C. so we can take our message of unity, diversity and equity to our nation’s capital?”
It was the festival’s first year on DC’s Independence Avenue, which means there are some kinks to work out for the future, but it was still an enjoyable time. Here are some of our biggest takeaways from the weekend.