Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival to encourage reef protection

Conservation-minded divers and snorkelers can enjoy a unique underwater concert and support reef protection in the Florida Keys with the 36th annual Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival.

The concert will take place on Saturday, July 11 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Looe Key Reef, an area of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, about 6 miles south of Big Pine Key.

Staged by local radio station US1 104.1 FM, this concert encourages environmentally-responsible diving and preservation of the world’s coral reefs. The festival will feature ocean-themed music broadcast by the radio station and piped underwater through specialized speakers suspended beneath boats above the reef.

While the festival’s purpose is to promote reef protection, some participants might also spot “mermaids” and other costumed characters swaying beneath the waves.

“We put music underwater so that the divers and snorkelers and fish and the marine life can enjoy it,” said Bill Becker, the festival’s director and the radio station’s news director. “And at the same time, we have a serious message about preserving the coral reef and lessening our own impacts to it.”

Festival organizers stress that social distancing and other safety protocols will be observed on all charter dive boats, and should be practiced on private vessels as well.

Those who can’t make it to the Keys can take part remotely by listening via the radio station’s website here.

For more information and to purchase tickets for the 36th annual Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival, head to LowerKeysChamber.com.