The Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival moves a radio-style program out of the air and into the sea. Boats place underwater speakers around Looe Key, and divers and snorkelers hear ocean-themed music while floating above the coral reef. Sound travels efficiently through water, so the experience changes as soon as a listener dips beneath the surface. The watery transmission can make familiar selections feel newly enveloping and strange for every submerged listener.

The “concert” is transmitted rather than performed by a submerged band. Playful images of musicians with underwater instruments belong to the celebration, but the speakers carry the actual music. Between selections, reef-protection messages remind visitors not to touch coral, anchor on sensitive habitat, or leave trash behind. The setting is part spectacle and part public-service broadcast inside the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

The event recurs annually, but its date, playlist, and program can change. Looe Key itself is an Ecological Reserve with rules designed to protect a heavily visited reef. The best version of the festival's joke therefore includes its purpose. Music draws attention to the underwater world; conservation messages tell the audience how not to damage the stage. The reef does not perform. It makes everyone listen differently.