Photos from previous years' Christmas on the Water, courtesy of Coastal Mississippi.
After the sun sets on the first Saturday of December, the Biloxi beaches—shining sugary-white beneath the moonlight—are full. The crepuscule backdrop of the dark, watery horizon provides a bare tapestry, prepped for the coming saturation of glittering lights.
“It's like having a blank canvas we can light up,” said Rusty David, founder of the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s annual Christmas on the Water lighted boat parade. As the holiday season descends, the seasonal staple in Biloxi has the fish and shrimping communities hauling out their boats and decking the hulls with light displays, giant candy canes, and plastic reindeer to celebrate the yuletide season with their community.
The fleet of glittering, decked-out boats lure myriads of spectators each year eager to enjoy a twinkling twilight show from the picturesque coastal shoreline or the nearby Biloxi Town Green, where they gather with friends and family to sip from hot chocolate-filled thermoses, and relax together before the busy rush of the holiday season.
“We never really know what all we are going to get,” David said. “It’s always up to the boat owner, and I think that’s what makes it a fun tradition that brings out generations of families all at once. We are all together, and the Mississippi Sound is completely dark, and the parade just shines. It's just spectacular. And the boat parade is the official Christmas kickoff for Biloxi and the Gulf Coast.”
Photos from previous years' Christmas on the Water, courtesy of Coastal Mississippi.
David, a Biloxi native, has been anchored to numerous community traditions, including the Old Biloxi Marching Club—a Mardi Gras custom, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic each summer. But none is more important to him than Christmas on the Water.
The parade’s maiden year was 1986, but the concept dates to 1984 when a group of mariners, David among them, were sitting around a dinner table at Mary Mahoney's Old French House restaurant in Biloxi.
Mahoney, who was president-elect of the Biloxi Chamber of Commerce and the first woman to hold that title, suggested that the chamber create something unique for Christmas that could include local shrimpers, fishermen, and other seafarers during the off-season.
“We don't normally use our boats in the wintertime," David said. "It was an opportunity to put people together on the boats during Christmastime and have a real nice family event."
Unfortunately, plans were put on hold when Mahoney fell ill and died the following year. In 1986, the group pulled together and saw her dream brought to fruition with an inaugural parade of twenty-eight boats. Christmas on the Water was an instant hit, and continued to gain traction each year. It peaked at eighty-six boats in 2004, the year before Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Coast.
“We didn't miss that year either, but we only had eight boats. Still, we managed to keep Mary’s tradition alive,” David said. “We are back up to averaging about fifty boats. The pandemic slowed things down, but I’m hopeful we’ll see that eighty-six number again before too long.”
David’s dedication to facilitating the community event throughout years of trials and tribulations on the Coast—including Hurricane Katrina, the 2010 BP oil spill, and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic—have not gone unnoticed. Coastal Mississippi Tourism recently nominated him for a Mississippi Tourism Association award noting, “His commitment to showcasing Coastal Mississippi's maritime roots and fostering a sense of togetherness has solidified the parade's place as an integral part of the region's culture. Rusty David's sentiment captures the essence of the parade's impact. It's just Coast culture. It's about people, togetherness, families, and hospitality. That's what Biloxi is all about."
And with David’s committed navigation, the event continues to grow. Four years ago, he enlisted his friend Kelli Dickens, owner of Kelli’s Steps School of Dance in Biloxi, to put on a holiday production to entertain eager viewers while the boats were lining up. Dickens and her SHOWSTOPPER dance team created The Grinch Show, featuring a traditional classic Christmas soundtrack and a few Rockette-style kick-lines to jump-start the yacht rocking parade magic.
Photos from previous years' Christmas on the Water, courtesy of Coastal Mississippi.
“We do a choreographed parade dance throughout downtown Biloxi, and we end up on the stage at the Town Green, just in front of the beaches,” Dickens said. “We have people that join in and walk all the way to the stage with us. The whole thing has become quite a tradition that really involves everyone.”
In addition to the twenty-minute Grinch production, there is also a myriad of live music performances to add to the festive ambiance. Local artists fill the air with melodies set to complement the gleaming and winking lights reflecting off the water as the boats ease through the Sound. The evening concludes with brilliant professional fireworks shot from a barge near Deer Island.
Each year David begins the parade by announcing, “And now that the Grinch Show has dropped all the beats, it’s time to rock the throttles.”
Get all the details for this year's Christmas on the Water at facebook.com/christmasonthewaterbiloxims.
