ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — St. Augustine is gearing up for one of its biggest weekends of the year, and that is for the culmination of the month-long Sing Out Loud Festival.
Described as one of the biggest music festivals in the southeast, the marquee weekend this Saturday and Sunday will feature 13 headliners.
This year, the festival is it’s tapping into conservation efforts, and has the potential to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to protect the local environment.
Sing out Loud has partnered with a group called Live Wildly.
"We are all about balancing economy and ecology across Florida," Meredith Budd with Live Wildly said.
24,000 concertgoers are expected pack into the Francis Events Field in downtown St. Augustine for Sing Out Loud this weekend.
Ten dollars from every ticket will go toward land conservation in St. Johns County.
With 13 headliners, concert goers will get a big show and a big hello from a 20-foot-tall inflatable Florida panther in the center of the field. Consider it encouragement to check out Florida’s wildlife.
Aaron Rickel-Jones with Live Wildly believes there is a tie between the concert experience and that natural one.
"People come to a music festival and they’re a fan of an artist. They get this deepened connection getting to see them live and experience that music live," Rickel-Jones said. "It’s the same thing with the outdoors. You can see a picture of a state park. But then actually getting into it and experiencing it for yourself, changes your fan experience of that place."
These concerts also have an impact on the economy. Sing Out Loud was created eight years ago for the month of September. It's typically the slowest time for St. Augustine’s tourism industry. Last year, hotel occupancy increased from 54% to 74% during the Sing Out Loud festival.