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
Site Map — Everglades / South Florida
Three Candidate Areas
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.
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.
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.
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
Overtown Civic Partnership
Community Anchor & Co-Host
Miami Waterkeeper
Water Quality & Biscayne Bay
Everglades Foundation
Ecological Science & Policy
Hampton House Cultural Arts Center
Cultural Authority & Historic Site
Miami Dade College
Education & Community Access
Catalyst Miami
Economic Justice & Civic Power
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.