Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival 2023: Florida’s Most Unique Jam Session (Fish Are Welcome!)
Celebrate life under the sea at the incredibly special Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival!
Dive beneath the waves to hear hit tunes like “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles or “Fins” by Jimmy Buffett at this one-of-a-kind concert! A yearly event in the Florida Keys, this underwater party is open to divers and snorkelers who enjoy a good time and love watery wildlife. Like a scene out of a Disney movie, you’ll find yourself dancing with a school of fish at this stunning soiree!
Held in beautiful Looe Key Reef, you couldn’t ask for a more picturesque setting for a party. Not only is this event super fun, but it also helps important conservation efforts! Good time and good deed? Sign us up! This festival is the must-attend event of the summer.
Underwater Music Festival History
Since 1985, there has been a July weekend set aside for jamming out underwater in the name of conservation. It’s an amazing combination—of music and nature—and it fosters a deep connection for everyone who experiences the festival. Event co-founder Bill Becker said, “The Underwater Music Festival is a way to celebrate the coral reef, and we celebrate it by looking for a balance between the protection of the reef and public enjoyment.”
The invention of the festival gave (and continues to give) folks a chance to experience the reef like never before. The result? Those who attend the festivities come away not only with fun memories but also with a lasting appreciation for this precious environment, which leads to better stewardship of the Florida Keys. It’s a win-win for everyone!
Create Memories That Last a Lifetime!
Discover 10 Super Fun Florida Keys Family Vacation Ideas
While all those folks are welcome at the Keys, we assure you this gorgeous archipelago has something for everyone – kiddos especially included! In fact, we’ll prove it to you by sharing our favorite Florida Keys family vacation ideas!
Keep the Reef Rockin’
Among the continental United States, Florida is the only state cool enough (er, I mean, lucky enough) to have its own coral reef formations just off the coast. However, with a great reef comes great responsibility. Not only does the gorgeous coral make up the groundwork for an entire ecosystem, but it’s also integral to the human economy and well-being.
Florida’s coral reef stretches out for an impressive 360 miles from Dry Tortugas National Park in the Florida Keys up to Martin County on the east coast (roughly an hour north of West Palm Beach). As reefs around the world continue to shrink, Florida is still able to provide food and shelter for a number of threatened and endangered species. This shallow reef also acts as a natural barrier against storms and flooding, bolsters the economy through tourism, maintains a healthy population of fish for catching (and eating!) and also serves as a frontier for biomedical research. Losing the reef would be to lose a national treasure.
However, without constant vigilance, it would be all too easy to succumb to such a fate. Corals are notoriously delicate creatures; just touching one is enough to harm it and even put its life at risk. Other factors like ocean temperature, pollution, and disease also threaten coral. Many types of corals that make up Florida’s reef are on the threatened species list, as outlined by the Endangered Species Act, and the reef is currently combating stony coral tissue loss disease (a highly transmissible and terminal illness for coral).
Thankfully, awesome events like this festival drum up support for conservation and research efforts that can save and maintain Florida’s great reef!
Coral rescue efforts are already underway, and strategies are in place to protect the still-healthy corals. There are even coral nurseries currently growing new colonies that will eventually be relocated to old reef sites. (Aww, baby corals!)
Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival 2023
All right, so how does an underwater music festival actually work?
It’s ingenious, really. Speakers are suspended beneath boats that are bobbing above the reef, and each one is tuned into the Key’s radio station, US1 104.1 FM. Throughout the afternoon, the radio will blast the best of today’s popular sea shanties. Songs from The Little Mermaid, the Pirates of the Caribbean theme, the opening to Gilligan’s Island, and even my personal favorite, the theme from Titanic, have all been played at past festivals.
It’s not just the music though (which travels to your ears faster underwater than through the air!)—there are also elaborately costumed mermaids and musicians who bring the concert to life with fun choreography and makeshift guitar solos. In the past, sea life-inspired instruments have been made by artist August Powers, whose creations include such wonders as the “fluke-a-lele,” the “clamborine,” and the “trom-bonefish.” This adds a wonderful dose of whimsy to an already fantastic music festival!
This year, the 39th annual underwater music festival will be held on Friday, July 7th, and Saturday, July 8th. Friday evening (6 to 8 pm) is the kick-off, with a welcome gathering at Mote Marine Laboratory’s Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration (located on Summerland Key). Here you can enjoy live music, light snacks, and drinks and learn about the amazing coral reef restorations that have been happening in the Florida Keys! The underwater portion of the event is on Saturday (10 am to 2 pm) at Looe Key Reef. (Note that the sonorous snorkeling happens in a sandy spot that’s a safe distance away from the coral!)
The best part about this whole event—well, aside from getting to groove with a bunch of tropical fish—is that it’s FREE! Both the Friday night tour and Saturday afternoon jam sesh are happening at no cost to the public. Just come ready to have fun and fall in love with the reef! If you do that, then it’s mission accomplished.
Have you been to the Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival, or are you going this year? We’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below! And tell us what song you think is a must for underwater listening!
Hope to see you there!
More Posts About Offbeat Florida
Dear MouseEars TV readers, This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on one of these links and make a purchase, we will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Featured photo: johnandersonphoto from Getty Images via Canva
