This Fall, Friends of Nature Music Festival (FON Festival) will kick off as the first ever comprehensively eco-friendly, interactive music festival to take place in Miami, consisting of two days of spectacular music, food, entertainment and a wide variety of activities as well as exhibitors. The Festival will take place on the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park. Every year, the festival will be donating a percentage of the sold tickets to organizations dedicated to protecting the environment. FON Festival has chosen Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS) as their first beneficiary, donating 20% of the net profit to aid their efforts in the protection and liberation of marine wildlife throughout the globe.
OPS is a non-profit organization that creates film, photography and media to inspire people to save the oceans and animals. They produced their first documentary film in 2009, The Cove, which has won over 70 awards globally, including the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2009. The organization is currently working on another film to soon be released.
“The Ocean is right at Miami’s doorstep. It brings us so much joy, yet we take it for granted. We felt OPS’s mission to bring awareness about oceanic issues is fitting for the Festival’s host city. Also, FON and OPS both aim to inspire people to action through similar means including art, film and music” explains Ines Galindo, Co-Founder of FON Festival and Co-Owner of Eyeness Productions. She continues “FON Fest is an opportunity to come together with music, art, food, fun and fresh air. We believe we can have the amazing shows and without being selfish with our planet. Celebrating humanity, earth, and compassion, we want to bring back the vibe of musical festivals from the 60’s and the mentality of its attendees, where people peacefully protested for what they believe in and celebrated with a purpose.”
“Few people, aside from the U.S. Navy and a handful of acoustic researchers realize that the ocean is filled with complex songs of creatures ranging from shrimp to blue whales, all singing for probably the same reason humans do; to find love and community and express the joy of living. OPS is proud to be partnering with a leading-edge environmentally friendly music festival that brings together our species to celebrate harmony with all life,” stated Louie Psihoyos, Executive Director of OPS.
OPS works to raise awareness about the following oceanic issues: mass species extinction, ocean acidification, mercury in seafood, underwater noise pollution, whaling, marine mammals in captivity, and dolphin slaughtering in Taiji, Japan. To learn more about OPS or to get involved, please visit www.opsociety.org.
FON Festival is also inviting close to 50 other non-profit foundations whose missions are aligned with the Festival’s essence. These foundations will have free access to a booth on-site to promote their causes and interact with festival attendees who may help further their efforts to save the planet.
For more information about purchasing tickets to FON Festival (early bird sale begins in May), please visit www.fonfest.com. If you are interested in volunteering or you are a non-profit foundation that would like to participate, please email jessicawadeinc@gmail.com. For inquiries about sponsorships or partnerships, please contact Gil M. Rodriguez at gil@impacten.com.