LIVE FROM FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA. HOW WE ROCK THE OCEAN AT TORTUGA

By ALLIUM | April 10, 2019 | United States

You may have noticed that TORTUGA ‘s full name is Rock The Ocean’s Tortuga Music Festival. Why is that? Well, it’s because Tortuga was born with the vision of helping to save our world’s oceans! The Tortuga Music Festival was created to generate awareness and raise funds for ocean conservation. The Rock The Ocean Foundation is the non-profit 501 (c)3 that was built by Tortuga fans! Every year, a portion of the proceeds from Tortuga is donated to the Rock The Ocean Foundation. In fact, Tortuga (and our fans) has already donated over $1,200,000 to ocean conservation! And that is just the beginning.

CONSERVATION VILLAGE

Sharks and See turtles need love too

Each year at Tortuga, Rock The Ocean Foundation curates a distinguished list of more than 30 worldwide thought leaders in Ocean Conservation to create our annual roster of Conservation Village partners. These groups are hand selected to participate on site at Tortuga because they are leaders in their field of expertise. Local Groups like Sea Turtle Oversight Protection (STOP) to international groups like Oceana, Surfrider and Sharks4Kids. The groups are divided into 5 tents, each representing one of Rock The Ocean’s 5 Core Issues: Overfishing, Shark Conservation, Coral Reef Degradation, Marine Pollution and Turtle Conservation.

SEE 2019 PARTNERS

SEA TURTLE DERBY

Get ready for the First Annual Rock the Ocean Sea Turtle Derby Sweepstakes where you pick a sea turtle that you think will travel the furthest distance before Tortuga Music Festival! One (1) grand prize winner will get a pair of 3-day GA passes plus a pair of backstage passes to meet Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, or Thomas Rhett!

PICK YOUR TURTLE

ON SITE AT TORTUGA

What’s there to do in Conservation Village? Meet and speak with over 30 of the top ocean conservation groups in the world, learn valuable and practical ways that YOU can make a difference in saving our oceans, PLUS, you can win cool prizes. For example, how would you like a backstage Meet & Greet with the festival’s headliners? Or, win a custom designed Rock The Ocean guitar autographed by all of the Tortuga performers!

Ocean conservation is woven into the fabric of Rock The Ocean’s Tortuga Music Festival. We make great efforts to make our event eco & ocean-friendly!

Ways we’re making a difference:

Reduce Single-Use Plastics: Did you know globally the equivalent of one dumpster truck of plastic is dumped into the ocean every minute? That’s why we have taken steps to reduce single-use plastic at the festival with the goal of being 100% single-use plastic-free.
- 2018 Highlights:
  - ELIMINATED plastic straws. Ocean friendly paper straws are always available on request.
  - ELIMINATED plastic water bottles. Instead ice cold Green Sheep (now Open Water) canned water and water refill stations were available for fans.
  - All food vendors helped reduce single use plastics by using paper/compostable food boats, plates, and cutlery
  - With the help of Clean Vibes and the Broward County Outreach Food Shelter, 59% of waste generated by fans and festival crew was recycled or donated in 2018.

Preserve and Protect Local Marine Habitats:With the support of local partners, our goal is to leave the beach better than we found it.
Support Sustainable Food Systems: Did you know that 90% of the world’s fisheries are now fully exploited, over-exploited or have collapsed entirely? Tortuga Music Festival is committed to only serving sustainable seafood. This means that any seafood item served at the festival must be caught or farmed in environmentally responsible ways, as defined by The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program.
- 2018 Highlights:
  - The majority of produce served onsite came from within 200 miles of the festival site.
  - Seafood vendors in 100% compliance with sustainable seafood policy
  - All meats served onsite came from animals raised without the use of antibiotics or hormones
Ocean Conservation Awareness & Education: Throughout the festival, you’ll find conservation awareness signage and campaigns educating fans on sustainable practices. Between acts, we feature on-screen PSA’s educating fans about our Conservation Village partners and their missions.
Preserve and Protect Local Marine Habitats: With the support of local partners, our goal is to leave the beach better than we found it. Tortuga Music Festival works closely with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation and US Fish and Wildlife Service to minimize the festival’s impact on the beach. From the light and sound levels to where structures are placed, we work closely with these groups to make sure we are not disrupting critical habitats. Further, since its inception, Tortuga music fans and artists have partnered with Sea Turtle Oversight Protection (S.T.O.P) to plant more than 40,000 Sea Oats on Fort Lauderdale Beach, improving the natural habitat for sea turtles. We’ve also partnered with amazing local groups like Nova Southeast University, University of Miami, Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and many others on coral reef restoration projects, beach clean ups, shark tagging and research initiatives all in an attempt to ROCK THE OCEAN!
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