Courtesy of lmg-management.de
Florida is known as one of the music festival capitals of the world. So it is no surprise that Key West hosts one of the coolest and unique festivals around. The Underwater Music Festival brings divers and musicians together each year to raise awareness for coral preservation.
It really is like no other music festival. A playlist of ocean-themed songs are played from underwater speakers while Divers and snorkelers enjoy the music in full costumes and playing instruments. Costumes range from scuba gear to mermaids to whatever theme it happens to be that year. Some of the instruments are the tom-bonefish, sea-phan flute and more fun ones.
Some songs include the Beatles’ Octopus Garden, Jimmy Buffet’s Fins and of course tunes from the original Little Mermaid soundtrack. But you don’t have to be a scuba diver to enjoy this festival. Live bands play on a barge to an audience of people on their boats. This happens to be the only on-water musical festival.
Courtesy of insideflorida.com
The festival was created to raise awareness for coral preservation. The festival invites people to enjoy the sound of music while being underwater. Each year, the festival has a theme; in the past themes have been Barackuda Obama, Hillary Clin-Tuna, a Yellow Submarine reunion complete with Paul McCarpney, Ringo Starfish, George Herring-son, and John Lemon-shark. Other themes included Underwater Idol, Dancing with Starfish and Subsea Survivor.
The Underwater Music Festival celebrated 31 years on July 11th. The festival usually occurs in the summer, around mid-July. You missed this year, but there is plenty of time to plan your trip for next year!
Courtesy of whenonearth.net
Feature image courtesy of architecturendesign.net.