Mobile’s inaugural Son of a Sailor Fest drew hundreds of people downtown Saturday for a celebration of the spirit, and the music, of Jimmy Buffett.

The free event featured a second-line parade and a day of performances in Cathedral Square, with a bill topped by Mobile native and Buffett collaborator Will Kimbrough and Buffett tribute band A1A. It built on a grassroots drive in September 2023 to hold a parade in Buffett’s honor in the wake of his death.

If this event was somewhat more formal – with an official website to promote it, heavy backing from Visit Mobile and a long list of sponsors – it also showed that maybe, just maybe, Mobile can go from a 2023 event that seemed to catch lightning in a bottle to something sustainable, an annual celebration of Buffett’s connections to the Port City. (Born in coastal Mississippi, Buffett grew up in Mobile and took some of his earliest career steps in the city.)

Joseph Brennan, who was the spark plug for the 2023 event and one of the planners of the 2024 fest, said he’d heard that people had come from as far away as Michigan to enjoy Son of a Sailor Fest. One early highlight, Brennan said, was a Friday-night VIP chat with Milton Brown and John Edd Thompson, songwriters who’d helped Buffett make his first professional recordings when he was in his early 20s.

That event was held at The Admiral hotel, where Buffett once had a humble gig playing in the Admiral’s Corner bar. “There was some laughter, some tears, it was really special,” said Brennan.

The heavy local contingent showed the widespread appreciation for Buffett in the area. Among them were Nick and Amanda Christopher. Nick Christopher said the 11:15 parade felt a little early, considering A1A wasn’t due to take the stage for six hours. But “the real troupers made it,” he said, surveying the pre-parade crowd in the Riverfront Plaza courtyard.

For him, he said, Buffett’s music brought back memories. He remembered hearing it as a kid, when he was out on his father’s sailboat. The attraction on Saturday was “just having a good time and having a drink and celebrating Jimmy Buffett – that’s it.”

The day featured its share of special moments. At the end of the parade, the Blow House Brass Band proceeded straight across sunlit Cathedral Square while the crowd following it broke and flowed around the perimeter of the park, clinging to the scant shade available at midday.

They stuck around, though, and were rewarded by the rare chance to see one of Mobile’s marching bands perform on a stage. Blow House delivered a fun cover of “Volcano,” then a sweet, trumpet-driven rendition of “Come Monday.”

By the end of the day, as temperatures dropped and shadows lengthened, the central expanse of the park was filled with a mellow, mostly seated crowd soaking up the music of A1A.

Organizers of the event had urged visitors to patronize nearby businesses, and that seemed to be paying off. Artious “Smac” Walker, owner of the Bow Owt food court, said it had been a strong day. Box Owt was in on the entertainment, too, hosting a secondary stage presented by the SouthSounds Music Fest, where local bands played throughout the afternoon.

Following a performance by Ella Salter & The Sunday Sinners, SouthSounds organizer Ted Flotte made a point of thanking the audience for taking the time to support local acts. He made the point that a young Jimmy Buffett had to leave Mobile to find listeners, and it would be nice if other aspiring stars found more local appreciation.

A few steps closer to Cathedral Square, David Rasp, owner of Heroes Sports Bar & Grille, said the day had been “incredible.”

“Great people, and a lot of ‘em,” he said of the visitors it had drawn to Dauphin Street.

“This would be strong by any measure,” he said of the traffic he’d seen. “Not bad for a day when Bama and Georgia are off and the matchups are soft.”

Backers of the inaugural Son of a Sailor Fest included the city, the county, Visit Mobile, the Downtown Mobile Alliance, and an array of business partners, as well as Jimmy Buffett’s sister Lucy Buffett, who was among the sponsors.