By Lilly Tougas

Riptide Music Fest was an epic event to cap off 2017. Taking place on the iconic Fort Lauderdale beach, it offered fun for all ages with a lineup of entertainment including Portugal the Man, Cage the Elephant, Weezer, Salt N Pepa, KC and the Sunshine Band, Lou Gram, Boyz to Men, and many others. The bands performed on a few different stages and represented a wide range of talent to suit various musical preferences.

 Along with two days of concerts, food, giveaways and art, it also highlighted ocean conservation, which is only fitting considering its location. Produced by ENTERCOM communications, a south Florida based company that recently purchased CBS radio reaching over 100 million listeners through 240 stations, the Executive Producer, Von Freeman, saw this as a great platform and offered the opportunity for Celebration of the Sea to be the official Riptide charity.

Celebration of The Sea Foundation emphasizes the work of groups, individuals and organizations doing amazing work for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) or as founder, Patxi Pastor creatively and necessarily renamed it STREAM, to add Arts and Recreation. Many groups came out to share their work, one of them being Nova Southeastern University with the Broward County Sea Turtle Program. Their main focus is education and awareness through citizen science work. With the help of students and the community they participate in shark tagging and turtle education alongside the Guy Harvey Research Institute. Dr. Derek Burkholder, co-founder of Sharks for Kids, plays a leading role with these programs. Many youth have had the honor of working with him, including me.

Other groups included Citizens Climate Lobby, Shipwreck Park, International Gamefish Association, Keys Strong, Florida Atlantic University, and The 1,000 Mermaids Project to name a few. Each of the groups has done so many incredible things, and for more information you can find them on the Celebration of the Sea Facebook page, where they shared their work with live interviews throughout the event in the COTS beach studio.

Everyone was eager to Get Trashed at Riptide, and I mean that literally! ENTERCOM set up the campaign, partnering up with Great Waste Recycling Service, KIND, Surfrider foundation, Fort Lauderdale Beach Sweep and Wild Over Wildlife, encouraging concertgoers to fill up bags of trash in exchange for a free exclusive Riptide shirt and a KIND Swag Bag.

Of course, in our "Blue Mind" state we shared blue Marbles. The Blue Marbles project was created to show gratitude and express Dr. Wallace J Nichols’ philosophy that being near, in, on, or under water makes us more creative, happier, healthier, smarter, and better at what we do, which is why people love the ocean so much.

Fortunately, for those ocean lovers, Ocean Geographic's Alexandra Rose came to Riptide with the Blue Ring Project. This allows people to “Mery the Ocean” and receive a blue ring and annual membership that funds research that develops solutions to improve the health of our oceans. Cage the Elephant’s lead singer, Matt Shultz, was excited to get a blue ring and talk about how much he loved performing facing the beautiful south Florida beach. You can learn more about Blue Ring and make a commitment by visiting www.bluering.blue.

 Stay tuned for the 3rd annual Riptide Music Fest 2018. You might be looking to escape the cold weather, hit the South Florida Beaches, and have an awesome time!