Birdstock II

ST. PETE BEACH – Sixty musical acts. Eight stages. Over 12 hours of continuous music on Saturday April 23, beginning at noon. All on the Corey Avenue Business District here in this friendly south Pinellas County beach community. All proceed...s will be donated to the non-profit Friends of the Tampa Bay National Wildlife Refuges, earmarked for the protection and enhancement of the essential seabird habitats of Tampa Bay .

 That is Birdstock II, Tampa Bay ’s largest musical environmental event.

One really big day for the birds.

Organized by a coalition headed by the Beach Theatre, the Corey Area Business Association and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Birdstock II is expected to draw thousands to Corey, where six indoor and two outdoor stages will feature top musical acts, including Sarasota Slim, Ronny Elliott, Wendy & the Soul Shakers, the Tom Kats, Crash Mitchell, Nathan McEuen, Dirty Spoons & Trash, The Caribbean Cowboys, Sandy Atkinson, Brendan Nolan, the Whole Tones, Panama Red, Steve Arvey and many more, all performing free. It’s all free, but a $10 wristband donation provides all-day access to the Beach Theatre plus free gifts, merchant discounts and other perks. Last year, Birdstock I raised over $15,000 to support the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary’s Gulf Coast oil spill response effort.

“This unbelievable collaboration of musicians, merchants, volunteers and fans will put on a show Tampa Bay will long remember,” says Beach Theatre owner Mike France, who is co-producing the event with WMNF Florida Folk Show host Pete Gallagher. “It is heartwarming to witness such generosity and goodwill and to be a part of a fund-raising effort that will really make a serious and immediate impact on Tampa Bay ’s seabirds.”

Refuge, critical habitat areas for the brown pelican. “This will improve the rookery islands making them safer for brown pelicans and other seabirds to nest and rest.”

Acts include Gulfport's Dan Stevens, who will be playing at Corey Corners at 6pm and the Swigwam at 8:15.