MARION — People young and old came out to Silvershell Beach in droves on Sunday, July 11 to celebrate the life of Nolan Gibbons at NolanFest, a music festival organized in honor of the late Old Rochester Regional High School student.

Gibbons was a rising sophomore at the time of his death last August and was known far and wide as a virtuoso musician with a heart of gold. The profound effect he had on people was made clear as speaker after speaker and singer after singer shared their experiences with him as a musician, an actor, and most of all a friend.

“It just means a lot that this many people loved Nolan,” said Nolan’s mother, Sheila Gibbons.

The festival, held the day before what would have been Nolan’s 16th birthday, featured Nolan’s friends, family, and peers who spoke about his life, shared stories, and sang. Videos of Nolan from throughout his life were shown between performances and food trucks were on site.

Nolan began singing at age nine with a local music troupe called the Showstoppers. At age 12, he won New England’s Got Talent with an a cappella version of John Lennon’s “Imagine” that he arranged himself.

The following year, he was cast as the lead vocal percussionist in a national all-kids a cappella group called Acapop! KIDS.

Gibbons traveled frequently all around the country to record music and film videos with the group culminating with a performance on the Kelly Clarkson Show in January 2020.

“He passed away when he was 15 but he was already crisscrossing the country to do a capella,” said Nolan’s uncle, Andrew. “He already had a career going.”

Most recently, Nolan was working on an original album of songs he had been writing, recording, and producing himself. His parents will honor his plans by releasing his original music.

His newest single, “My Turn,” was debuted at the festival and will be released July 12 on streaming platforms.

Nolan’s friend Ethan Hanzlik, who met Nolan at the Acapop! audition in New York in 2018, was drawn to Nolan immediately, “like I just needed to know him,” he said.

Hanzlik expressed his gratitude at having been able to “experience his brilliance up close,” while working together in Acapop! and said that they quickly became friends, often traveling about an hour to each other’s houses to have sleepovers and write songs together.

“It’s a big deal,” said Hanzlik of the festival. “It means a lot to be here and be able to perform.”

Though Nolan’s family held a smaller ceremony for him soon after his death, they knew that they wanted to celebrate his life with a festival that would provide a venue for Nolan’s peers to perform.

“Because he died during the pandemic we couldn’t have this kind of celebration last August,” said Sheila.

The official slogan for NolanFest was #EverybodyLikestoBeThemselves, a phrase that Nolan coined when he was just three years old, according to his father Warren Gibbons, but one that seemed to capture the spirit of a young man with courage and compassion beyond his years.

“He was such a champion for friends who were coming out or just anyone who was having trouble fitting in or getting along,” said Warren.

Nolan’s death was officially deemed a result of Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood, or SUDC, a rare designation that is assigned when a coroner or medical examiner has completed a thorough evaluation and finds no other cause of death.

Every year in the U.S., about 400 children and teens are lost to SUDC, according to the SUDC Foundation. Most often, a seemingly healthy child goes to sleep and never wakes up.

“It was horrible but look at all these people that love him,” said Sheila, later adding from the stage, “There’s a mix of laughing and crying in our day to day lives and they’re very close together.”