Festival 3 — 2029Everglades / South Florida

Everglades
South Florida

The most consequential water policy Trimtab in the United States. A water management shift here affects 8 million South Floridians, the third largest coral reef in the world, and the entire Everglades ecosystem. The Hampton House connection makes Overtown the most symbolically powerful festival site in the program.

Composite Score

43/50

#3 of 9 candidate sites

Ecological Need10/10
Community Distress9/10
Partner Infrastructure8/10
Physical Hosting Capacity9/10
Repair Hub Potential7/10

Site Map — Everglades / South Florida

Primary Site
Site 2
Site 3
Ecological Anchor
Google
Map data ©2026 Google, INEGI
Map data ©2026 Google, INEGI

Three Candidate Areas

Rank #143/50

Overtown / Liberty City, Miami

The Hampton House connection makes this the most symbolically powerful site. The Miami metro provides the largest attendance potential of any candidate. Overtown is the historic heart of Black Miami — and the most important environmental justice story in South Florida.

Crisis: Biscayne Bay water quality, saltwater intrusion, urban heat island, displacement from gentrification
Population: Miami Metro: 6.2M; International gateway to Caribbean/Latin America
Hub: Hampton House historic restoration — the most symbolically resonant Repair Hub in the program
Rank #241/50

Caloosahatchee / Fort Myers

The Caloosahatchee River is the primary discharge channel for Lake Okeechobee's toxic algae blooms. Fixing the water management system here fixes the Everglades downstream. Post-Hurricane Ian community trauma makes this the most urgent recovery story in Florida.

Crisis: Toxic algae blooms, Lake Okeechobee discharges, Hurricane Ian recovery, estuary collapse
Population: Fort Myers Metro: 800K; Southwest Florida: 1.5M
Hub: Fort Myers waterfront — post-hurricane adaptive reuse, living shoreline demonstration
Rank #340/50

Big Sugar Belt / Lake Okeechobee

The sugar belt transition here affects the entire Everglades system downstream. The most powerful 'internal colony' narrative in Florida — and the most consequential policy Trimtab in the state.

Crisis: Phosphorus runoff from sugar agriculture, Everglades collapse, farmworker poverty, water rights
Population: Glades County: 13K; Downstream impact: 8M South Floridians
Hub: Former sugar processing facility — industrial adaptive reuse, agricultural transition center

Why Everglades Wins

Perfect 10 on Trimtab Leverage — a water policy shift in South Florida affects 8 million people, the Everglades, and the Florida Reef Tract simultaneously.

The Hampton House in Overtown is where Martin Luther King Jr. stayed when Miami hotels were segregated. It is the most symbolically resonant Repair Hub site in the entire program.

Miami is an international gateway — the Everglades festival reaches the Caribbean and Latin American diaspora in a way no other site can.

The $20B Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan is the largest ecological restoration project in US history — the festival is the cultural activation layer it has been missing.

Miami-Dade County has the highest concentration of environmental justice communities in Florida — and the most urgent need for the Karma Cash economic model.

Key Organizations

ANCHOR

Overtown Civic Partnership

Community Anchor & Co-Host

ANCHOR

Miami Waterkeeper

Water Quality & Biscayne Bay

STRATEGIC

Everglades Foundation

Ecological Science & Policy

STRATEGIC

Hampton House Cultural Arts Center

Cultural Authority & Historic Site

COMMUNITY

Miami Dade College

Education & Community Access

COMMUNITY

Catalyst Miami

Economic Justice & Civic Power

FUNDER

South Florida Water Management District

Everglades Restoration Funder

Begin the South Florida Relationship

The first contact is Miami Waterkeeper and the Overtown Civic Partnership — the two organizations with the deepest community trust and the strongest ecological credibility in South Florida.