Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival to Present "Aquaculture"
Concert will be music the the ears of divers, boaters, and water-lovers.

By By Carol Shaughnessy
Posted Tuesday, June 7, 2005

 
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The concept of "aquaculture" is to achieve a whole new meaning Saturday, July 9, when divers and snorkelers explore an undersea art gallery during the 21st annual Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival.

The unique festival showcases the colorful diversity of marine life that characterizes North America's only living coral barrier reef. As many as 600 divers and snorkelers typically gather each year for the sub-sea songfest at Looe Key Reef, an area of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary located approximately six miles south of Big Pine Key.

Staged by Keys radio station WCNK 98.7 Conch FM, the quirky concert is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Marine melodies are to range from the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" and Jimmy Buffett's "Fins" to humpback whale songs and other water-themed selections, with the music broadcast underwater via Lubell Laboratory speakers suspended beneath boats positioned at the reef.

While aquaculture typically means fish farming, festival organizers have themed the 2005 festival "AquaCulture: Music and Art in the Key of Sea," to celebrate the vibrant cultural community in the Florida Keys.

A group of culture "afishionados" is to spotlight both music and art by "playing" aquatic anthems on a collection of musical instruments created by Florida Keys artist August Powers. There's something undeniably fishy about these instruments, however: they include a trombonefish, a staghorn, a manta-lin, a fiddle crab and a drumfish.

In addition, an underwater exhibition is to showcase approximately 20 pieces of "new wave" art created by Lower Keys artist Barbara Hettinger and her cohorts at Artists in Paradise Gallery on Big Pine Key.

As well as being a one-of-a-kind event for divers and snorkelers, the annual Underwater Music Festival carries a serious message of coral reef preservation. The musical broadcast incorporates diver awareness announcements, written and recorded by Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary officials, offering tips on how people can enjoy the ocean while minimizing the impact on the coral reef ecosystem and overall marine environment.

People interested in diving into culture at the 2005 Underwater Music Festival can charter space aboard boats run by Lower Keys dive operators. Visitors and residents with their own boats can launch from public ramps throughout the area.

For information about dive charters and accommodations in the Lower Florida Keys, contact the Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce at 1-800-872-3722 or 305-872-2411, or visit the chamber Web site http://www.lowerkeyschamber.com or explore this Web site http://www.fla-keys.com.