Jelly Roll and Ludacris Kick Off Tortuga Music Festival in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on April 4, 2025

April 9, 2025
International Concert Reviews, International Festivals, International Galleries
by Johnnie Crow Photographer / Writer

The 12th Rock The Ocean’s Tortuga Music Festival filled the sandy beach of Fort Lauderdale Beach Park on April 4-6, 2025. This amazing festival always brings some of the biggest names in music to this picturesque location. Tortuga Festival is primarily a country music festival, but it mixes things up with artists from other genres contributing to the vibe. The festival grounds are on the beach sand, with a massive VIP section straddling the pavement and the beach. With big names like Luke Combs, Keith Urban & Jelly Roll, the main stage has quite the talent to end each night. If you get here early enough though, you might just find your new favorite artist(s).

Rock The Ocean Foundation was created to generate awareness and raise funds for ocean conservation. Throughout the run of Tortuga Music Festival, Rock The Ocean has raised close to $5 million dollars in donations. Tortuga continues to be one of the best festival experiences that the world has to offer.

Tortuga Music Festival 2025 Day One took place on Friday, April 4, 2025. Jelly Roll and Ludacris topped the lineup. The combination of wind breezing, music blasting, and the beach vibes provided an immaculate fusion of culture and energy.

The full lineup for Tortuga Fest Day One 2025 was:

Jade Eagleson gave a stellar performance on the NEXT FROM NASHVILLE stage with an exceptional fiddler to accompany him as we made our way between the two main stages.

Bayker Blankenship also played inside the tent in the middle of the festival grounds.

Charlie Worsham gave his all, shredding on guitar and singing with passion and energy.

John Morgan laid down his breezy style on the Sunset Stage. He had dueling lead guitarist to spice things up on top of 2 acoustic guitars.

Artikal Sound System is a Florida band with a Southern California sound. The band is led by frontwoman Logan Rex, with an incredible band of instrumentalists that tap into alt-pop melodies, slinky rhythms, deep grooves, and evocative lyrics. They are a perfect band for enjoying the sun and sipping on a cold one at the beach.

Marcus King is an old-school throwback. He plays killer blues guitar with heartfelt crooning to go along with it. He and his band sound even better live than they do on record.

Gavin DeGraw has been in the spotlight for more than two decades. One of the unique features of Tortuga Music Festival is the way they mix in other genres of music, giving fans a chance to see a consummate professional that they may not have otherwise ever seen.

Gary Allan has been doing his thing for 3 decades. He commands the stage with the ease of a seasoned performer.

Parker McCollum is a rising country star with plenty of hits. He had thousands singing along to wonderful tunes such as “Handle On You”, “Burn It Down” and “To Be Loved By You”.

The last set to go up on the Sunset Stage was absolutely LUDACRIS. A totally killer performance to finish off the end of the night on this side. Luda had the loudest crowd of the day. It was so packed there was no room to move, let alone get out the way.

Jelly Roll crushed the Main Stage. A beautiful conclusion to an otherwise wonderful day. His large band was phenomenal, with many years of experience on stage and television. Jason “Jelly Roll” DeFord has an incredible, inspiring back story and he shared a lot of it with a crowd that ate it up and grew to love him more and more as the night went on. He truly has a perfect voice for country music. His extended version of “Save Me” closed the night with all of the fans singing along, and feeling all the feels.