FORT PIERCE, FL. — A free, all-day beach festival that raises money for cancer causes returns to the Fort Pierce waterfront on Saturday, November 14.
The second annual Pick, Paddle & Play Beach Jam runs from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Causeway Cove Marina, 601 Seaway Drive. Admission is free. It features live music, paddleboarding, food and a resource village for local nonprofits.
"It's a free concert. We're going to have eight bands," said Roger Templeman, executive director of Stabilize Revitalize Fort Pierce, Inc., the nonprofit organizing the event. “There is a lot of stuff going on that day, and the majority of it is paid. We're free all day, 10 till 8. If you can't get there in the morning, get there in the afternoon or get there in the evening."
Besides the music, the festival will have paddleboard competitions and free paddleboarding, a skate jam with a skateboard area and competition, and a kid zone. Merchant and food vendors will also set up.
Templeman said the biggest addition this year is the Community Resource Village. Nonprofits and local civic organizations get free vendor space, which puts social services in front of people who came for a good time.
"Instead of saying, hey, come out and see all these non-profits that have services available, we're saying, hey, come out, have a great time on us, and while you're at it, hey, here's some resources," Templeman said.
Organizations already signed up include Safe Space, Care Bag, Friends in Pink, Project Lift and the Law Library, Templeman said, and the list is still growing.
Proceeds will support three nonprofits: Friends in Pink, a local breast cancer organization; Care Bag, which provides portable showers and hygiene supplies for homeless and transitioning families; and Stabilize Revitalize Fort Pierce.
Templeman said the first two were chosen because of their hands-on approach. "They're very boots on the ground non-profit organizations, much like ourselves," he said.
The festival began last year as the group's first fundraiser, organized for a local woman with T-cell lymphoma. Templeman said organizers raised $10,000 in about eight weeks of planning. The money went toward her mortgage and covered the event costs.
"It was a super hot day last year," he said. "This year, we have put it out to a cooler day, and we have got more planning under our sleeves, so I think it's going to be a great event."
Stabilize Revitalize Fort Pierce is about four years old. It started as a neighborhood cleanup group and now runs youth programs, including mural painting and community service projects. Its home base is the St. Lucie Farm Preserve on Minute Maid Road.
Organizers are still looking for nonprofit booths, for-profit vendors, merchandise sellers and food vendors.
"It's a huge place out there," he said. "We've got a big footprint. So as many non-profits as we can get, we want to pack them in there because we want this to be a real resource for the community."
Vendors can sign up at srfp.net or stabilizerevitalizefortpierce.org.