NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Mayor Phillip Jones called a special city council meeting Monday morning to address permitting concerns ahead of Noodle — The Thinkers Convention, a two-day event scheduled for the Friday and Saturday of Memorial Day weekend in the city's Yard District.
"There are a lot of moving parts, so I wanted to get all of the stakeholders in the room and really talk about what needs to be done," Jones said.
Jones said more than 35 permits are required to hold an event of this size, and he had concerns about whether some deadlines would be met.
"There's over 35 permits that have to be accomplished to have an event of this size - something as big as a site plan - something as where are you going to park? Those have timelines associated with it and I was concerned some of those timelines were not going to be met. Those fears were resolved," Jones said.
Jones said the final plans will be shared with the community.
The convention will feature panel discussions, other events, and a music festival with Chance the Rapper among the performing artists.
The music venue is expected to be in the parking lot next to Ironclad Distilling, with a capacity of 8,000 people — a number that was reduced from earlier figures.
"We had a larger number in mind both our police and fire chiefs said that number was not going to be appropriate so we downsized," Jones said.
The city is partnering with the nonprofit Port Warwick Foundation to organize the festival. The foundation did not respond to a request for comment on how many tickets have been sold so far.
Local businesses in the area are welcoming the spotlight on the Yard District. Brittany Gossart, the owner of BLZN Tacos food truck, is expecting a busy weekend.
"Lots of lines and lots of people we get a thrill with the rush of the crowd," Gossart said.
Gossart said she is looking forward to the event's impact on the community.
"We love doing events like this and we're expecting a good outcome," Gossart said.
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