Hickory High and Hickory Middle schools will have synchronous virtual instruction that day, meaning students will log on to their school computers for class. Southeastern Elementary and Hickory Elementary will dismiss students at 1 p.m.

Country music star Luke Bryan will bring his “Farm Tour” to Heritage Park, 3444 S. Battlefield Blvd. in Chesapeake, for a 6 p.m. show. Parking will open at 2 p.m.

In a message sent to parents and posted on the schools’ websites, officials said that the division is “committed to the safety and security of our students and staff” and made the changes after receiving updated information about the concert’s “anticipated community impact.”

After-school activities were also canceled and school officials said the elementary afternoon bus routes might experience delays. Students at the elementary schools who were scheduled to attend the Oceana Air Show will still do so. Breakfast and lunch will still be served at the elementary schools.

During the pandemic, many divisions provided their students with devices to complete online assignments. Since virtual learning became widespread in 2020, some divisions have used the option instead of giving students a “snow day” during bad weather. In April, Norfolk schools moved to virtual learning because of safety concerns regarding the solar eclipse.

Nour Habib, nour.habib@virginiamedia.com

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kendrick Lamar will pop out on the NFL’s biggest stage next year: The Grammy winner will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show in New Orleans.

The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced Sunday that Lamar would lead the halftime festivities from the Caesars Superdome on Feb. 9. The rap megastar, who has won 17 Grammys, said he’s looking forward to bringing hip-hop to the NFL’s championship game, where he performed as a guest artist with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Eminem in 2022.

“Rap music is still the most impactful genre to date,” Lamar said in a statement. “And I’ll be there to remind the world why. They got the right one.”

Lamar, 37, has experienced massive success since his debut album “good kid, m.A.A.d city” in 2012. Since then, he’s accumulated 17 Grammy wins and became the first non-classical, non-jazz musician to win a Pulitzer Prize for his 2017 album “DAMN.”

The rapper’s latest album “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” was released in 2022. He was featured on the song “Like That” with Future and Metro Boomin on a track that spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this year. He also scored another hit with “Not Like Us.”

In 2016, Lamar gave a stunning seven-minute performance of tracks such as “The Blacker the Berry” and “Alright” at the 58th Grammy Awards. Lamar dazzled as an opener two years later at the Grammys with a performance of “XXX.”

In June, Lamar turned his Juneteenth “Pop Out” concert into a celebration of Los Angeles unity. It came on the heels of his rap battle with Drake during the three-hour concert featuring a mix of p-and-coming LA rappers and stars including Tyler, The Creator, Steve Lacy and YG.

Roc Nation founder Jay-Z called Lamar a “once-in-a-generation” artist and performer.

“His deep love for hip-hop and culture informs his artistic vision,” Jay-Z said. “He has an unparalleled ability to define and influence culture globally. Kendrick’s work transcends music, and his impact will be felt for years to come.”

Roc Nation and Emmy-winning producer Jesse Collins will serve as co-executive producers of the halftime show. The creative direction of Lamar’s performance will be provided by pgLang, a creative company founded by Lamar and Dave Free — who has previously directed the rapper’s music videos.

“Time and time again, Kendrick has proven his unique ability to craft moments that resonate, redefine, and ultimately shake the very foundation of hip-hop,” said Seth Dudowsky, the head of music at the NFL.

Last year, Usher shined with a star-studded show with guests including H.E.R., Jermaine Dupri, Lil Jon, Ludacris and Alicia Keys.

“The Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show is a celebration of the music we love and the incredible artists who make it, all on the world’s biggest stage,” said Oliver Schusser, the vice president of Apple Music and Beats.

According to a timeline of the studio’s 2025 films, the film will come to theaters on May 9. The musical will be directed by Michel Gondry and produced by Williams. Gondry won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2005 as a writer for “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” which he also directed.

“Atlantis” is written by Martin Hynes, one of the writers of “Toy Story 4,” and Steven Levenson, who co-wrote “tick, tick… BOOM!” and “Dear Evan Hansen.”

Multiple music industry headliners have signed onto the project, according to IMDB. The site lists R&B superstar Mary J. Blige, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Portsmouth native Missy Elliott and rapper André 3000 as castr members.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, winner of the 2024 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for “The Holdovers,” will star along with actor Kelvin Harrison Jr., who will play the lead role.

“Atlantis” has begun filming in the resort city. In June, the Virginia Beach Fishing Pier was taken over by a crew shooting a scene. The movie is set in 1977, prompting classic cars and vintage-clad extras to settle at the Oceanfront.

The musical will join another upcoming movie under the Virginia Beach native’s repertoire.

“Piece by Piece,” the story of Williams’ development as an artist using animated Lego pieces, is scheduled for theatrical release in October. The animated film will also feature Timbaland, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes.

Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com

The popular parade — which includes more than 150 entries of school bands, local businesses and nonprofits and elected officials — spans roughly 2 miles. The lineup begins at 9 a.m. at Booker T. Washington Middle School (3700 Chestnut Ave.) and the parade will kick off at 10 a.m. Participants will march to the church grounds of Zion Baptist Church at 2016 Jefferson Ave.

The festival and Andrew Shannon Gospel Music Celebration will be held at the Zion Baptist Church grounds at noon — immediately after the parade. The festival will feature a concert with singer and producer Luther Barnes and local performers, food vendors, and stands from local businesses and community service organizations.

Parade founder Andrew Shannon said the Southeast Community is often called under-resourced or marginalized. Still, the parade proves it is a community filled with opportunity and he said the event “provides hope, pride and inspiration.”

This year’s grand marshal is Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Newport News, and co-grand marshal is Newport News City Council member Marcellus Harris III. Shannon said both men have been involved in positive community service initiatives and parade leadership chooses people who “roll up their sleeves and help to serve.”

Shannon first organized the event in 1991 as part of an effort to spread positivity at a time when the news cycle was dominated by reports of middle and high school girls being sexually assaulted. In the ensuing decades, the event has become a day of cultural celebration.

“People often read or hear about some of the negative things that may be going on, but we provide a ray of light, a ray of hope and a ray of sunshine for the community,” Shannon said.

Shannon estimates that the event drew 3,000 participants and 15,000 spectators last year.

Street closures for the event are expected to begin at 9 a.m. and last no longer than 2 p.m., a city spokesperson said. Roads serving as the parade route will open as the parade progresses The following roads will have closures Saturday:

• Chestnut Avenue: 37th Street to 24th Street (Depending on number of parade units – closures could extend to 39th Street)
• 25th Street: Chestnut Avenue to Jefferson Avenue
• Jefferson Avenue: 26th Street to 18th Street
• 19th Street: Jefferson Avenue to Madison Avenue
• Ivy Avenue: 18th Street to 20th Street
• 20th Street: Jefferson Avenue to Madison Avenue

Josh Janney, joshua.janney@virginiamedia.com

“The Pajama Game” presented by Williamsburg Players. 8 p.m. Friday with dates/times through Sept. 22 at James-York Playhouse, 200 Hubbard Lane. Tickets start at $22; discounts for children. To buy online, visit williamsburgplayers.org.

Bobby BlackHat Music Series, featuring performances by Matt Thomas, Lana Puckett and Kim Person, others. 6 p.m. Saturday at Ferguson Center for the Arts, Peebles Theatre, 1 Avenue of the Arts, Newport News. Tickets start at $25. To buy online or to view the series lineup, visit fergusoncenter.org.

ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd bring their “Sharp Dressed Simple Man” tour to Virginia Beach. The Outlaws will open. 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater, 3550 Cellar Door Way. For ticket availability, visit livenation.com.

Mushroom Festival, featuring mycologist and keynote speaker Tradd Cotter. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Norfolk Botanical Garden, 6700 Azalea Garden Road. Free with garden admission. For more information, visit tinyurl.com/NBGmushroom.

Broadway in Norfolk presents “Les Misérables.” 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10-12 with more dates, times through Sept. 15 at Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Blvd. For ticket availability, visit ticketmaster.com. For discounts, visit sevenvenues.com.

Relive the ’70s when Stayin’ Alive: One Night of the Bee Gees makes a stop in Newport News. 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12 at Ferguson Center for the Arts, Diamonstein Concert Hall, 1 Avenue of the Arts. Tickets start at $38. To buy online, visit fergusoncenter.org.

Events may change. Check before attending.

Patty Jenkins, patty.jenkins@pilotonline.com

In a statement Thursday, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said its investigation into Live Nation Entertainment’s unit Ticketmaster will look specifically at “dynamic pricing,” whereby prices can vary rapidly in light of changing market conditions.

It is a pricing strategy used in flight sales and home food deliveries, where demand levels can fluctuate and lead to surging prices while also sometimes leading to lower prices. It is a more common practice in the U.S. than in the U.K.

Many Oasis fans who queued online at the Ticketmaster site for hours Saturday complained that they ended up paying more than double the face value of the ticket as a result of dynamic pricing, with standard standing tickets often sold for 355 pounds ($470) as compared to the expected 148 ($195).

Critics said it was deceptive and inappropriate to use dynamic pricing for the concerts given that it was well-known in advance that demand for the fixed number of tickets would be sky-high.

The CMA said it would scrutinize whether Ticketmaster, the U.K.’s biggest seller of tickets, may have engaged in unfair commercial practices and whether it breached consumer protection law. The probe will look at whether consumers were told in a clear and timely way that the tickets could be subject to dynamic pricing, and whether they were put under pressure to buy tickets within a short period of time – at a higher price than they understood they would have to pay.

“It’s important that fans are treated fairly when they buy tickets, which is why we’ve launched this investigation,” said Sarah Cardell, the watchdog’s chief executive. “It’s clear that many people felt they had a bad experience and were surprised by the price of their tickets at check-out.”

The organization wants to hear from fans who encountered issues, and will seek evidence from Ticketmaster and others, which may include the band’s management and event organizers. It said it can implement enforcement if it sees evidence of possible breaches of the law.

The controversy also has prompted some lawmakers in Ireland, where the band are due to perform, to launch a bid to ban dynamic pricing in the sale of tickets.

Ticketmaster has said that it does not set concert prices and its website states this is down to the event organizer who “has priced these tickets according to their market value.”

Oasis is led by brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher, who said in a statement Wednesday that they didn’t know that “dynamic pricing” would be used and acknowledged that the execution of the ticketing plan “failed to meet expectations.”

“It needs to be made clear that Oasis leave decisions on ticketing and pricing entirely to their promoters and management, and at no time had any awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used,” the band said.

The tickets that went on sale Saturday were for the band’s concerts July 4 and 5 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Heaton Park in Manchester, on July 11, 12, 16, 19 and 20, London’s Wembley Stadium on July 25, 26 and 30 and Aug. 2 and 3, Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on Aug. 8, 9 and 12; and Croke Park in Dublin on Aug. 16 and 17.

On Wednesday, another two dates were announced at Wembley on Sept. 27 and 28, which will first be open only to people who were unable to get tickets in the initial Ticketmaster sale. The relief for them is that dynamic pricing will not be used on this occasion.

Formed in Manchester in 1991, Oasis was one of the dominant British acts of the 1990s, producing hits including “Wonderwall,” “Champagne Supernova” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger.” Its sound was fueled by singalong rock choruses and the combustible chemistry between guitarist-songwriter Noel Gallagher and his frontman brother Liam.

Oasis split in 2009, with Noel Gallagher quitting the band after a backstage dustup with his brother at a festival near Paris. While the Gallagher brothers, now aged 57 and 51, haven’t performed together since, both regularly perform Oasis songs at their solo gigs. They’ve also fired off criticisms of each other in the press.

On Aug. 31, Adele performed her ninth concert in Munich, Germany. She will return to Las Vegas to perform 10 more shows between Oct. 25 and Nov. 23.

Then, that’s it for her and music for a “long time.” As Adele told her audience in Munich, the mom of one is itching to get back to “living my life.”

“I have spent the last seven years building a new life for myself and I want to live it now,” the singer said. “I want to live my life that I’ve been building and I will miss you terribly.”

While the length of Adele’s hiatus is unknown, she told her fans that “I will not see you for an incredibly long time. And I will hold you dear in my heart for that whole length of my break.”

(Warning: The next link contains vulgar language.)

Adele explained that this is the longest period of time she’s ever performed, and said she will likely never to commit to such an intense schedule again.

Nonetheless, Adele said she will remember this time on stage fondly and for an “eternity.”

The singer is currently engaged to sports agent Rich Paul. Although several reports claim that Adele and Paul have since wed, Adele has never confirmed those reports.

During a Las Vegas show earlier this year, Adele did share her excitement for the future with Paul, revealing that they plan to extend their blended family.

“Once I am done with all my obligations and stuff like that and all my shows, I’m going to have a baby,” she said while on stage. “And I want a girl because I’ve already got a boy (son Angelo, 11).”

Adele joked at the time that her daughter will become the person she will love and hate most in the world. “She’s going to put me in my place all the time, isn’t she? With me as her mother and Rich as her father, she’s going to be a bossy little queen, isn’t she?”

In the comments of her last Instagram post, fans applauded Adele for the last three years but also pleaded for her to come back to the stage one day.

“You for sure deserve a break. But pleaseeeeee come back again. Saw your show on someones live and cried my eyes out because you were crying too,” a fan wrote. “I really hope you are proud of yourself! You are an amazing artist and we loveeeeee you.”

“Right here, right here,” McCreery says in video from the event, as he points into the crowd and the band stops playing. “That’s a lady you just hit sir. Absolutely not. Who just hit the lady?”

The singer from North Carolina — who gained fame as a teenager appearing on the television show American Idol — called for police and security and asked if the woman was OK.

People could be heard booing and chanting as officials responded during the Saturday concert in Pueblo, Colorado.

McCreery, 30, urged the crowd to let authorities know who was responsible. He said that hitting a woman was the “definition of a coward” and told the alleged assailant to “get the heck out of here” before the show resumed.

The woman was evaluated on-site by paramedics and declined to be taken by ambulance to a hospital, said Olga Robak with the Colorado Agriculture Department.

Potential criminal charges were referred to prosecutors but the man was not arrested, Robak said. The Pueblo County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to questions about the case.

Virginia Symphony Orchestra presents “Once Upon a Symphony,” various dates and locations. Friday at Lake Matoaka Amphitheater, Williamsburg; Saturday at Riverwalk Landing, Yorktown; Sunday at Chesapeake City Park; Tuesday at 31st Street Park, Virginia Beach; and Sept. 7 at First Flight High School, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. All shows start at 7:30 p.m. For ticket info, including wristband options, visit virginiasymphony.org.

Two Candlelight shows, presented by Fever, Friday: 6:30 p.m., Neo-Soul Favorites featuring songs by Prince, Childish Gambino, others; and 8:45 p.m., A Tribute to Coldplay on Strings. Both at Zeiders American Dream Theater, 4509 Commerce St., Virginia Beach. Tickets start at $36. To buy online, visit feverup.com.

Labor Day weekend to feature free live music and more. 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday; and 5 p.m. Sunday at 17th, 24th and 31th Street stages on the sand, Virginia Beach Oceanfront. For the complete weekend lineup, including times, and before you go info, visit beacheventsvb.com.

Hip-hop veteran Juvenile brings his 25th anniversary tour to Norfolk. Mannie Fresh will open the show at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at The NorVa, 317 Monticello Ave. For ticket availability, visit thenorva.com.

Los Angeles rock band Jane’s Addiction with Love and Rockets will make a tour stop in Portsmouth Sept. 5. Crawlers will open the 7 p.m. show at Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion, 16 Crawford Circle. Tickets start at $39.50. To buy online, visit ticketmaster.com.

Capitol Fools make a return to Hampton for an evening of political comedy. 7:30 p.m. Sept. 5 at The American Theatre, 125 E. Mellen St. Tickets start at $25. To buy online, visit hamptonarts.org.

Events may change. Check before attending.

Patty Jenkins, patty.jenkins@pilotonline.com

Pharrell has Something in the Water at the Oceanfront.

And now another member of Hampton Roads’ hip-hop royalty has his own thing, this time in the heart of downtown Norfolk.

The inaugural Cousinz Festival, a one-day music fest co-founded by artist Terrence “Pusha T” Thornton, will take over Scope plaza and Scope on Saturday.

The shows start in the early afternoon with VIP entry starting at 1 p.m. and the main gates opening at 2. DJs will perform through the afternoon on the plaza; those events conclude with a 6 p.m. set by hitmaker Jermaine Dupri, who’s collaborated with Mariah Carey, Destiny’s Child and Usher.

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Scope plaza performances

• Norfolk State University Band, 1:45 p.m.
• DJ DC, 2 p.m.
• Izzy the DJ, 3 p.m.
• DJ Envy, 4 p.m.
• JAE Murphy, 5 p.m.
• Jermaine Dupri, 6 p.m.

Dupri, a rapper and producer, has been a music industry mover and shaker since the early 1990s, when he helped write rap duo Kris Kross’s single “Jump,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. He founded So So Def Recording.

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Scope arena performances

• Art of Noise RVA, 6:30 p.m.
• Lion Babe, 8 p.m.
• Larry June, 9 p.m.
• Erykah Badu, 10:15 p.m.

Badu is the festival’s second headliner. She’s known for her soaring and emotionally stirring vocal range; The New Yorker magazine once called her the “Godmother of Soul.”

Her song “Bag Lady” reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2000, and two years later, “Love Of My Life (An Ode To Hip Hop),” featuring Common peaked at No. 6.

Pusha T found commercial success in the early 2000s as half of the duo Clipse after signing to Pharrell Williams’ Star Trak Entertainment record label.

He called Badu “one of the queens of R&B”  and said it was “only right” to have an artist of her stature, and with such a strong fan base, headline the festival’s debut.

He co-founded the Cousinz Festival with his longtime friend and musical collaborator Nathaniel “Fam-Lay” Johnson and Antonio Dowe. Johnson, a former recording artist who lives in Chesapeake, and Dowe, a music management and marketing professional based in Norfolk, previously founded the R&B Block Party. It played its first show in Norfolk in 2022 and has been held 14 times locally and at venues across the country.

The Cousinz Festival, they said, is essentially an expanded version of the Block Party that they hope will embody the laid-back atmosphere of a “large cookout” at a “family reunion.”

“The name Cousinz is just a term of endearment to make sure our 757 community and beyond knows that this is a family affair,” Dowe said.

Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8138, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com

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If you go

When: 1:45 p.m. Saturday

Where: Scope, 201 E. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk

Tickets: Start at $40

Details: cousinzfestival.com