Beach College Weekend Was A Dud: The Good News & The Bad.

Talk about spinning until you’re dizzy, get a load of the local coverage of last weekend’s taxpayer-subsidized Audacity Oceanfront Concerts:

Describing the anemic “crowds” as “smaller-than-expected” the Virginian-Pilot added “That’s not to say those who attended didn’t have a good time.”

Oh please. 

We, the taxpayers, gave the organizers of this dud $750,000 to bring the show to the oceanfront plus untold number of “in-kind-city services” in return for an advertising campaign showcasing Virginia Beach.

Judging from the virtually empty resort area last weekend even that p.r. offensive fell flat.

The organizers blamed the weather for the poor turnout, but there wasn’t a drop of rain, just chilly late April temperatures.  

What happened was actually good news: It appears that Beach College Weekend, an annual headache for the Resort City, may have moved on. 

Before anyone accuses me of racism, it wasn’t the college students from the historically black colleges on a late spring break who caused most of the problems. It was local gangbangers and troublemakers who were also drawn to the oceanfront on the last weekend in April who started most of the fights, crimes and shootings.

This isn’t the first time the local newspaper tiptoed around shenanigans at the Beach. Who will ever forget this headline, from The Virginian-Pilot on May 2, 2018:  “Despite Multiple Shootings, College Beach Weekend Was ‘A Calm Atmosphere’ City Says.”

Sure it was. Four people were shot and 139 were arrested in a 10-block area. 

That’s anything but a “calm atmosphere.”

Beach College Weekend in 2019 was different, when Pharrell Williams brought his enormously successful Something In The Water Festival to the Oceanfront. There was virtually no trouble, while the city was swamped with concertgoers.

Ralph Northam and his dictatorial lockdowns made sure the city couldn’t enjoy a repeat of that in 2020 or 2021. By then hard feelings between the city and Pharrell seemed to sour the whole festival idea, although Williams is bringing it back this October.

Back to the last weekend’s lackluster turnout. The newspaper did observe that there was a dearth of “students walking on Atlantic Avenue or the Boardwalk. Instead, there seemed to be locals of all ages enjoying free programming in the public parks.”

There they go again, spinning. Someone tell the newspaper there is no such thing as a “free” program in the park. 

Sure, there are programs that don’t require tickets.

But nothing is free. The taxpayers pay for all of it.

And it looks like we didn’t get much for our money last weekend.