Music festivals are some of the most fun atmospheres for any music junkie. And large scale festivals have been popping up more and more all across the country. But for any country music fan, the festival that you must attend is the Tortuga Music Festival in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This year’s ‘Tortuga Fest’ will take place on April 7th-9th. Here are five reasons why you should attend the 5th Annual Tortuga Music Festival.
5.) VIP Packages
You can get VIP tickets for nearly any concert nowadays. But Tortuga makes their VIP ticketholders really feel like VIPs. No, really! They actually have two VIP levels: Super VIP and Regular VIP. The perks are a bit different (and a bit better for the Super VIP) but outside of the dedicated entrance, private bathrooms and food/drink vendors which are pretty common for VIP ticket packages, they also have some other badass VIP perks. Free meals, free snacks, free drinks!? Yes, please. VIP viewing areas near the stage- you’ll want this when you’re trying to get from the main Tortuga stage to the far stage for another act and get to a point where it’s a standstill while VIPs walk right up to the stage. And guess what else… there’s a POOL for VIPs. Yes, the ocean is right there but getting out of the festival and into the ocean and then back into the festival can be a pain in the ass. The festival production constructs a pool right there on the beach for VIP ticketholders. So give me my free beer and let me stay cool in the VIP pool while Kenny Chesney plays in the background.
You can buy VIP tickets (and GA tickets) here.
4.) Food and Drink
With 60,000 people or so showing up on an annual basis, you need a lot of food. And not just quantity but selection. Not everyone wants your concert hot dogs and pretzels. And Tortuga has the biggest variety of food we’ve ever seen at a live music event. Pizza burgers, corndogs- they got it. Falafel, burrito bowls, macaroni and cheese, noodle bowls. They got those too. Want seafood? They have conch fritters and blackened fish and shrimp. And that’s just a taste. The festival has so much more than that. And we can’t forget the drinks. Ice cold Corona and Modelo is delivered by the truckload. Last year, there was a Fireball Whiskey cart and a sparkling wine cart. There’s also rum drinks and a few places where you can get frozen drinks like Hurricanes and margaritas. It’s a long day. It’s a long 3 days, people. Drink up, and that just doesn’t mean alcohol. There’s plenty of lemonade and water and soft drinks available too. And plenty of food to balance it out. Tortuga is marathon, not a sprint. Eat, drink and listen to country music!
3.) The Cause
The festival sells a lot of tickets and General Admission starts at $209 for a three-day advanced General Admission ticket. So they definitely bring in a lot of money, but this isn’t a cash grab for the festival. The festival donates a portion of every ticket sold to ocean conservation. In the first few years, they have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Rock the Ocean Foundation who assist conservation organizations on a local and global level. Causes benefitted by the Tortuga Music Festival include Sea Turtle Oversight Protection (STOP), Florida Fishing Academy, Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF), the Bimini Sharklab and many more. During the festival, they setup what they call the Conservation Village where you can go and learn about the causes and learn about different sealife. You can also win some cool prizes at the Conservation Village. So by you attending Tortuga Fest, you’re helping with ocean conservation!
You can learn more about the cause here.
2.) The Location
Don’t get us wrong, New England has some amazing beaches but we got nothing on the Fort Lauderdale beach. We’re talking about nice, clean, blue water and white sand and warm sun… nearly every day of the year. After our long, cold winters, there’s no better way to celebrate spring and the upcoming summer then to fly south to Fort Lauderdale for Tortuga Fest. There’s also some great bars and restaurants in the area as well, so make a trip out of it!
1.) The Lineup
This is the biggest reason why every country music fan should attend Tortuga. This year’s lineup is ridiculous. The three headliners are Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney and Chris Stapleton. Other artists include Brett Eldredge, Alan Jackson, Darius Rucker, Dustin Lynch, Maren Morris, Old Dominion, Drake White, LOCASH, Michael Ray and many many more! And there’s a reason why it’s not called the Tortuga COUNTRY Music Festival because it’s not just country! Yes, the majority of acts fall under the country genre but in the past we’ve seen acts like the Doobie Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Michael Franti and others. This year, the festival has hip hop icon Nelly (our inner early 2000’s teenager self is stoked) along with acts Slightly Stoopid, G. Love and Special Sauce, Delta Rae, Marcus King Band, and Quaker City Night Hawks. There’s a little bit of something for everyone.
More info on the lineup can be found here.
Get your tickets for the Tortuga Music Festival today by clicking here. You can thank us later.