Coley Simmons has nothing but fond memories of attending past MoonPie Over Mobile events.

But the late-night revelry is something her children have yet to experience, for obvious reasons.

“I cannot keep them up at 12 o’clock at night,” said Simmons of Saraland about her children; twins, Maelee and Ava, 10; and Nolen, 4.

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That changed on Saturday, when the non-profit organization, Events Mobile, hosted a first-ever Kids’ Zone event at Mardi Gras Park that culminated with a second-line parade along Royal Street and a noon drop of the famed MoonPie that is affixed to the RSA Trustmark Building.

“For them to be able to see the MoonPie drop at noon is perfect,” said Simmons.

Indeed, the early afternoon festivity appeared to be a hit in downtown Mobile where cooperative weather with mild temperatures provided a comfortable backdrop for a large crowd to gather at Mardi Gras Park for arts and crafts and to play around in bouncy houses.

Revelers, old and young alike, were also treated to 3,000 or so MoonPies scattered on tables free for attendees to munch on while they waited for the Magnolia Breeze Youth Ensemble to lead a second-line parade along Royal Street to the RSA Trustmark Building.

At noon, the 600-pound electric MoonPie descended along the building. It was the first of two drops the MoonPie will make – the second being its 15th annual drop at midnight.

“We want to bring something that is new and made a huge impact on the city,” said Amberly Harris of Events Mobile, Inc., the non-profit entity that hosts the New Year’s Eve festivity that began in 2008 and which routinely draws tens of thousands of people to downtown Mobile.

“Children are the heart of each and every person,” Harris said. “Adding the kids with the spacewalk (bouncy houses) and MoonPies and the MoonPie drop itself … it will absolutely blow the city away.”

Teneshia Eldridge of Mobile brought her children and nephew to the MoonPie drop for the first time, recognizing the convenience of having a special attraction for young families who otherwise could not stick around for the late-night party.

“It’s nice you can bring them out and not worry about them missing out on anything,” she said. “It’s nice for the kids and gives them something to do.”

The afternoon event kicked off a day that has become a featured event for Mobile and is viewed as an unofficial kickoff to the city’s popular Mardi Gras.

Adult festivities will open at 7 p.m., with the world’s largest edible MoonPie being cut up and served to the crowd at the Renaissance Riverview Plaza Courtyard. A second-line parade will then take place around 8 p.m., with music by Levon Gray & Gray Area 51 starting around 8:30 p.m.

The Red Clay Strays are scheduled to perform at 9:45 p.m. The headline act, Third Eye Blind, will take the stage around 11 p.m., ahead of the MoonPie dropping at midnight.

The event in Mobile is among the most popular New Year’s Eve gatherings in Alabama, though a growing number of cities are also getting in on the holiday.

In Orange Beach, the “Reelin’ in the New Year” event at The Wharf entertainment complex is highlighted with the marlin drop and fireworks.

City-sponsored events in Fairhope, Ozark and Wetumpka are also ringing in the New Year by dropping balls or confetti. In Wetumpka’s case, the year end festivity features a dropping of a “meteor” that is guided by a wire, followed by fireworks. The meteor drop commemorates an actual meteor that struck the city about 83 million years ago, leaving behind a nearly five-mile-wide crater.

Birmingham, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery and other large cities are also hosting a variety of New Year’s Eve events.