VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - There's not just "something in the water," there's something in the air.
In what feels like the blink of an eye, sections of the beach have been nearly transformed.
There are dozens of drink and food tents, platforms, fences and most noticeably, stages.
“The stages are incredible. It’s something - they started building them about three or four days ago [and] you didn’t think it’d be as big as they are," Suffolk resident Matt Wilson says.
The VIP viewing section for the SITW festival (Photo: News 3 reporter Erin Miller)
Crews are still working to assemble the festival grounds, but even so, the main stage - which sits on 5th Street - can be seen nearly 50 blocks away in the North End.
“You want to see how the city is adapting to these changes. This is something really new. This is something that’s going to be really exciting for the area," Wilson says.
A production of this size is expected to draw major crowds, but it doesn't seem like visitors have settled in just yet.
“Seems like there’s a lot of families still here and a lot of locals, but I’m sure that around Thursday it’ll start to fill up with tags that are not from Virginia," says Virginia Beach resident Anthony Harmon.
Harmon has friends who bought tickets, but they're not coming into town until Thursday evening.
Restaurant owners say they've had to stock up on extra food and drinks to accommodate the expected crowds.
With thousands of people, you can count on more trash and bathroom breaks, so there will also be more garbage cans and port-a-potties. The music production company has carted in more than 300 port-a-potties to serve the guests.
Public Works will be providing more than 150 garbage cans and 40 recycling cans for the event. They will also assist with trash pick-up at some locations during the event.
"Hopefully it’s a really big success so we can continue to do this and bring good vibes to the city for a long time," Harmon says.
Click here for our full coverage on the Something in the Water festival.
