C-Key Tiki Fest presents
Play the Fest
Send us one original song. We play it live, you get feedback and a real reaction on how it fits the festival, and then the crowd votes.
Submit your song Free to submit. One song per artist.How it works
Four steps, and the first one takes about two minutes.
Send us the song
Fill out the form at the bottom of this page. A link to the song, a couple of lines on you, and you are done.
We pick the ones that fit
We listen to everything that comes in. We cannot play them all, so the songs that suit the fest get a link to join the review queue, and an email when they are coming up.
We play it live
On stream, out loud, with real feedback. Not just whether we like it. Whether it fits a beach in Cedar Key on the first weekend of May.
The crowd votes
Everyone watching gets a say. People already holding festival tickets get a bigger one.
Why we are doing this
So many good artists have reached out that it is genuinely overwhelming. We wish everyone could play.
Time and budget say otherwise, and the 2027 lineup is mostly booked a long way out. That is how festivals work. But this one has always been about discovering new music, so rather than fill the last spots the usual way, we held two of them back.
The idea came from watching the Sugarshack A&R livestream. Play the songs, talk about them honestly, let people weigh in. Done right, a contest like that puts light on artists who have earned it, on a genre that does not get enough of it, and on a small island festival.
So let’s work together and get great music out there.
What we are listening for
C-Key Tiki Fest is reggae and tropical rock on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
That is a wide door, not a narrow one. Trop rock, roots reggae, ska, coastal soul, surf, island country, whatever you call what you do. A steel drum is not required. A song that makes sense with sand under it is.
What the slot actually is
The 2027 lineup is mostly booked. We held a few slots back for this.
No travel reimbursement. Cedar Key is on the Gulf Coast of Florida and getting here is on you. Make that call before you submit, not after.
The rules
- One original songYours, or your band’s. No covers.
- A link or an audio fileSpotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, BandLab, YouTube or Google Drive — or upload the track. Whatever Nero takes, we take.
- Tell us who you areTwo or three lines on you and your sound. That goes in the note box on the submission form.
- A link to a live videoYouTube, Instagram, anywhere. It has its own box. Seeing you play lets us judge the show and not just the recording.
- You own the rightsAnd you are giving us permission to play the song on a public stream.
- You are ready to hear it straightWe talk about the song on air, honestly, and viewers vote on it. That is the whole point.
- You can get to Cedar KeyPerformance fee and hotel are covered. Travel is not.
How the voting works
Two groups vote, and they do not count the same.
Everybody watchingVote through the link we drop in the chat during the stream. Open to anyone, no ticket needed.
VIP and weekend pass holdersIf you are already coming to Cedar Key, your vote carries more weight. We email a separate link after each stream.
Voting stays open 48 hours after each stream, so nobody loses out for working a Thursday night.
Send us your song
One original song. Free to enter. It takes about two minutes.
We read every one. If your song fits what we are building in Cedar Key, we will send you a link to get it into the review queue for a stream.
Get in the queue
Stream dates go out here and on our socials. Get your song in and we will tell you when it is coming up.
Submit your songC-Key Tiki Fest · April 30 – May 2, 2027 · Cedar Key, Florida