Tortuga Music Festival Adds A Message To The Music

South Florida country music fans flocked to Fort Lauderdale Beach Park for the second annual Tortuga Music Festival from April 12-13. As a music festival with a purpose behind its profits, this giant beach concert helped to raise both funds and awareness for ocean conservation, all while providing some highly anticipated performances from the hottest country music stars.

With three separate stages and headliners featuring everyone from Train to Luke Bryan, it didn’t take much advertising before countless fans were eagerly shelling out the money to receive a wristband for entrance to this promising festival. Heating up Fort Lauderdale Beach, these musical performances did not disappoint in providing fans with a good time. As the reggae-punk sensation Slightly Stoopid entertained some fans while big country acts like Billy Currington took the main stage, the variety in music selection provided something for everyone to enjoy.

While the main entertainment was quite impressive, the motive behind the concert is also something to be admired. Initially thought up by Guy Harvey Inc. President Steve Stock and Rock The Ocean  RTO founder Chris Stacey, this event, held by RTO, was initiated to “edu-tain” concertgoers, changing attitudes and opening minds towards ocean conservation.

While tickets sales did contribute to the cause, the main event of the festival was the carefully constructed Conservation Village. Skillfully created by Huka Entertainment and RTO, these informational booths, interactive exhibits, and various freebies all encouraged concertgoers to take part in the conservation movement. Stressing topics like turtle nesting (alas, the name Tortuga), shark tracks, and even responsible seafood consumption, the scientific displays stressed solutions to our problems rather than simply dragging Tortuga attendees down by our environmental foibles.

Without a doubt, this beachside festival was successful yet again. Aside from a few showers on Sunday, the festival has proven yet again to be the perfect trifecta of warm Fort Lauderdale sunshine, hot music performances, and even hotter conservation efforts. Successfully raising both money for South Florida and awareness for ocean conservation, Tortuga Music Festival is already being planned to take the beach in 2015 for its third annual installation.