FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Beginning Friday, Keith Urban, Luke Combs, Jelly Roll and Shaboozey are just some of the big names that will take the stage on Fort Lauderdale Beach for this weekend’s 12th annual Tortuga Music Festival.
It’s more than just a good time on the sand, as the beach party is about showing love for the ocean and stepping up to protect it.
They come for the music but leave more conscious about what we’re doing to our planet, and the urgent need to protect it.
“Here we have 100,000 people over the course of the weekend,” said Tortuga Music Festival Founder and CEO Chris Stacey. “They literally will change their lifestyle and their habits to be better stewards of the ocean, just by something they learned out here on the beach with us.”
The festival brings some of the biggest names in mostly country, but also rock, pop and hip hop onto three stages right on the sands off A1A for a party with a purpose, inspired by Stacey’s love for the ocean and passion for conservation.
“The first time I ever saw a shark or a turtle in the water, I was like, it just changed me,” said Stacey. “And then I realized how threatened the whole thing was, and I was like, we have to do something about it.”
A 25-year veteran of the music industry, in 2013 Stacey reached out to some of his famous friends when he got the big idea of throwing a huge music festival right on the beach to benefit the ocean.
“I remember talking to Sheryl Crow about it, we were literally on a tour bus and I was like, ‘I think I’m gonna do this. You know, would you be interested?’ And she’s like, ‘I’ll be there. Tell me the date I will be there,‘” said Stacey.
Over the past 12 years, more than 350 of music’s biggest stars have rocked the ocean, raising millions of dollars. The concert is for profit but a portion the proceeds and 100 percent of all merchandise sold goes to conservation efforts like coral reef restoration, shark tagging, sea turtle rescues and ocean clean-ups.
“We support multiple different groups at University of Miami, Nova Southeast, FIU, FAU,” said Stacey. “They come out, tell us what programs we’re working on, and then we push the money to them to activate their causes.”
Not only has Tortuga grown into one of the largest country music festivals in the nation, it’s also the most sustainable on the planet.
“There is no plastic or single-use plastic allowed on our site,” said Stacey.
Wristbands are made from 50% recycled materials, water is served in recyclable cans and all service wear is made of plant materials and compostable.
“We actually moved to a new cup last year, which is a marine, biodegradable, compostable cup,” said Stacey. “At the end of our festival, we send them all to composting, and they literally turn into the soil.”
All of it serves to make people more conscious about the eco-footprint they leave behind.
“Let’s put it in their faces when they’re not expecting it, and in organic ways and highly experiential ways,” Stacey said.
The heart of the Tortuga Music Festival, sandwiched between both stages, is the Rock the Ocean Conservation Village, where 32 nonprofits will take up space, giving festival goers a chance to engage with them, become educated, and when they leave, hopefully become better stewards of the environment.
“I call it the great migration,” said Stacey. “So every time a big act ends on one stage, tens of thousands of people migrate this way, and they come right through this village, and they all stop and everybody’s giving away prizes and doing fun stuff.”
From the beginning, Tortuga’s mission has been not just to minimize the impact on the environment, but to leave it better than they found it.
“See these sea oats here? So we’ve planted over 30,000 sea oats on this beach since we started doing the music festival here,” said Stacey. “You can do something big and fun and still do it the right way that doesn’t impact your environment in a horribly negative way.”
Composting all organics is also one of the sustainability practices Tortuga has successfully executed over the years, helping the festival achieve an almost 81% diversion of waste from the party going to landfill, literally leading the entire events industry.
The goal this year is to get to 90% diversion and achieve zero waste.
For more information on this year’s festival, including performers how to get tickets, click here.
Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.
