1989: "Greekfest" Riots
Although problems with vacationing college students and partygoers have occurred in many other beach resorts such as Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, usually in the context of the Spring Break holidays, the 1989 conflict of between these groups and police in Virginia Beach differed for its overtones of racism and the outbreak of rioting, as many of the participants were blacks.
While an increasing number of college students had converged on Virginia Beach for the Labor Day Weekend each year, specific events during the 1988 "Greekfest" are seen as having presaged the riots of 1989. First, the looting of an oceanfront "7-Eleven" convenience store may have emboldened celebrants during the following year’s riots, as the 1988 looters were never challenged by local law enforcement due to their large numbers. Second, during the 1988 event, several hotels were beset with acts of vandalism which included the smearing of human fecal matter on room walls, furniture burning, and extensive water damage. These hotels in turn revised their reservations and deposit procedures for 1989, an act that was apparently perceived to be racially motivated and which led to higher racial tensions. The third and least important occurred when 3,000 people could not get into a scheduled concert at the Virginia Beach Pavilion because of the insufficient capacity of the venue, which led to $6,000 in property damage and an assault on a female security guard. Managers afterward felt the number of attendees simply overwhelmed Virginia Beach's capacity for large events. Organizers of the event were told that they could not rent the public facilities again.
The City of Va. Beach clearly was not able to support such a large crowd from a Public Safety or event planning standpoint. That is a summary of what the mayor at the time made in regard to the Greekfest.
Some suggest that if the City had worked more closely with college organizers and created more event activities, the students would not have gotten intoxicated and rioted. However, this does not take into account two facts: 1) Beach locals and students alike will testify that most, if not all of the rioters, were not actually college students. Most were local and regional non-student partygoers who had learned about the previous year's mischief and were looking for more mayhem. 2) The year following the 1989 riot, the City became greatly engaged and spent millions of dollars to create a safe and fun Greekfest environment. However, the students and partygoers felt that the event had become overly organized and within two years the festival was virtually abandoned. Students and community leaders claimed the creation of events for people to attend actually destroyed the raucous and freewheeling nature of the gathering. However, the prevailing sentiment was the City of Va. Beach did not welcome the GreekFest crowd and many felt such treatment was uncalled for and disrespectful. In addition many felt the racial overtones surrounding such treatment would no longer be tolerated.
Read more about this topic: History Of Virginia Beach