Reef Fest is a worldwide series of music and environmental festivals designed to inspire community awareness and educate citizens about global environmental effects on coral reef ecosystems. It is a partnership including regional non-profit community outreach and governmental organizations, presenting concerts featuring internationally recognized recording artists who share these concerns. For those who ask, "But what can I possibly do?" Reef Fest provides a simple answer: come and listen to the music!
The world's coral reefs are precious tapestries of interdependent life forms. Their fragile existence is emblematic of the mysterious beauty that occurs in nature and its increasingly precarious future. Coral reefs foster billions of dollars in fishing, diving and tourism, and protect shorelines from harmful storms. We all benefit from healthy coral reefs, either directly or indirectly, though they may seem remote from our lives. Non-profit groups such as The Nature Conservancy, Reef Relief, Reef Check; and multinational governmental support systems, namely the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Park System, the US Geological Survey, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, and others traditionally have supported conservation efforts. Ultimately, concerned citizens and corporations, in tandem with environmentalists, must share the responsibility for universal awareness of the plight of coral reefs and their successful preservation.
Reef Fest represents a celebratory marriage of music and visual arts with environmental scientists tasked with analyzing and protecting coral reef ecosystems all over the globe. Targeted concert sites include South Florida, the Bahamas, California, Texas, Hawaii, and Australia. Reef Fest is fashioned as a series of fund-raising events borrowing from the traditions of "Live Aid" and "Farm Aid". Historic collaborations of this sort from Willie Nelson to the very recent Red Hot Chili Peppers’ benefit for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society are well documented. Diverse internationally cherished recording artists from Herbie Hancock to Jimmy Buffett, and environmental activist musical groups from Mana to Maroon 5, all share a concern for global environmental causes.
Reef Fest is supported by a growing list of scientific and government agencies, foundations and non-profit groups including: NOAA, South Florida JAZZ, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, Virginia Key Beach Park Trust, Oakland Park Main Street, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Broward County Cultural Division. The Reef Fest Fund is administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
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