Blessing of the Fleet and Shrimp Festival ‘a sign of hopefulness’ for Biloxi’s future

The 92nd Annual Blessing of the Fleet and Shrimp Festival event took place this weekend and celebrated Biloxi’s culture, heritage and legacy.

A $1,000 cash prize was awarded to the first place best decorated boat, the Kenny B. The second-best decorated boat, the Barbara K, was awarded $500, as was the participation of working boat winner, My Sons.

The tradition of blessing the fishing fleet began in 1929, and marks the beginning of the fishing season for shrimp fishermen.

Monsignor Dominick Fullam of St. Michael Catholic Church in Biloxi, who performed the blessings this year and last year, talked about why the Gulf Coast continues to celebrate the tradition.

“The people here are people of faith but they also recognize that nothing we do on our own is going to come to good fruition without God’s help and blessing,” he said.

Fullam has been a Gulf Coast native since the age of 3 and has memories of the blessings.

“I’ve seen this all my life and went to it as a kid and remember the days when it was, for me as a kid, a long wait to get the blessing,” he said.

The ceremonial wreath dropping took place at 2 p.m. Sunday to honor deceased fisherman.

Boats then lined up in the west end of the Biloxi Channel, south of the Biloxi Small Craft Harbor, and paraded east in the channel where they awaited their turn to receive a blessing for a safe and bountiful season.

Fullam described the event in one word: hopefulness.

“We did it last year, too, even in the midst of the pandemic, and that really was a sign of hopefulness that things were going to back to normal hopefully soon,” he said.

“Now as they seem to be getting more and more back to normal we just continue to be hopeful that people will get out there, enjoy the Mississippi Gulf Coast and be a part of our life.”