MARION – Last year, the community gathered for a memorial. This year, they made it an annual tradition.

NolanFest honors the life of 15 year-old Nolan Gibbons, a young musician and Old Rochester Regional High School student from Marion who died suddenly in 2020.

On Saturday, July 2022, people flocked to Silvershell Beach in Marion to honor Nolan’s life “the way he would’ve wanted to” – coming together for music.

His mother, Sheila Gibbons, said that this year is a different kind of day as opposed to the inaugural event last year, where many people came together to pay tribute and share their grief.

NolanFest 2022 is “more about giving the stage to young artists,” she said. “It’s about giving them a voice and a platform. It still honors Nolan’s memory, but it’s much more than a memorial service.”

The tagline for the festival is #EverybodyLikestoBeThemselves, something Nolan said when he was just three years old, according to his mother.

“It really shows what he was like as a friend and as a son,” Gibbons said. “He was one of those kids who had this great ability to work really hard on his music and be really proud of himself without having ego or minimizing someone else.”

Also at the festival were food vendors Mom On the Go and Forno Bakery, tarot card readings by Sarah Ainsley, local businesses selling items and donating their proceeds, a table full of raffle items, and a large butterfly art installation where people could take photos.

The event was kicked off by the Showstoppers, a local music group for kids. Gibbons said that it was “really special” that they were able to open the event, because they were the foundation of Nolan’s career as an artist.

Nolan began singing with them at the age of 9. Then, in 2017, at the age of 12, Nolan won New England’s Got Talent by performing an a cappella version of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” which he arranged and produced himself.

Following his win, Nolan was cast as the main vocal percussionist of Acapop! KIDS, a national all-kids a cappella group formed by the founders and members of the Grammy Award-winning group, Pentatonix.

He also took songwriting lessons with Music Career Mastermind, an online course that does coaching in music production and songwriting.

Music Career Mastermind was the biggest sponsor of the event.

Nolan’s teachers, Melissa Mulligan, the founder of the course, and Coley O’Toole, a member of the rock band We the Kings, both performed at the festival.

Members of Acapop! KIDS were also present to sing personal tributes to Nolan. The group performed “My Turn,” an original song Nolan wrote, on America’s Got Talent earlier this month.

“The fact that they decided to do the song on their own is such a testament to who he was,” Gibbons said. “He was such a cheerleader for anyone that was really putting themselves out there and being themselves. Whether they were the best in the world or if it was just a big step for them, he would’ve been the loudest person cheering them on.”

“My Turn” was Nolan’s first single and it was set to release Sept 2, 2020. He died two weeks before it went live.

The festival finished out the night with a performance of “My Turn” that was remixed by Ben Bram, who produces for Pentatonix. The remixed arrangement is designed for a choir and was performed by Break a Leg theater group.

Volunteers from the festival passed out music so everyone could sing along.

“One of our dreams for Nolan was that one day he’d be sitting somewhere like a bar or a club and it would play his music and people in the audience would sing along,” Gibbons said.

Rhode Island comedian Frank O’Donnell was the master of ceremonies for the event, making lively commentary and jokes as he introduced each act.

O’Donnell is also a bereaved father who lost his 15 year-old daughter in 2010, and Gibbons said that he has been “a huge support.”

“We’re still in the same situation where people aren’t getting a lot of live performances,” said Laura Carillo, a family friend and member of the event committee for NolanFest. “But this is four hours of live music from all over the place, so it’s really nice.”

Gibbons’ mother says that Nolan would have been “so humbled” by all of this happening in his name.

“He would have been like ‘Really? All this about me?’ But he would’ve loved it,” she said

Volunteers at the event walked around the festival and handed out sheets of paper with quick response codes that contained links to donate to Nolan’s memorial fund.

Gibbons said that the fund will be used to put together a scholarship fund in Nolan’s name for kids like him who want to pursue a career in music.

Those interested in learning more about the memorial fund can visit nolangibbons.org to read more or donate.