St. Marys Pirates Club Cannon Incident Prompts 2027 Shrimp Festival Parade Ban

St. Mary's Pirates Club ship in the Shrimp Festival Parade.

By Mike Lednovich/Editor

FERNANDINA BEACH - The St. Marys Pirates Club will be barred from participating in the 2027 Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival parade unless it develops a safer procedure for firing its cannon after a child was burned by flaming cannon wadding during this year’s event, festival officials said Monday.

The issue surfaced during the May 5 Fernandina Beach City Commission meeting when Commissioner Genece Minshew questioned Shrimp Festival Chairman Scott Inglis about an email commissioners received from a resident whose child suffered burns during the May 1 parade.

The annual parade featured more than 100 entries winding through downtown Fernandina Beach, including pirate-themed floats and groups that have long been a staple of the festival.

Minshew said the commission received photographs showing injuries allegedly caused by sparks or flaming debris from a cannon blast fired from the St. Marys Pirates Club ship float.

Inglis explained that the incident involved the Georgia-based St. Marys Pirates Club, not the Fernandina Beach Pirates Club, noting the two are separate organizations. He said the St. Marys group uses a cannon-loading process involving gunpowder and wadding that is expelled when the cannon is fired.

“What had happened was the St. Marys Pirate Club … they actually have a cannon, and they use a process where they take wadding and put gunpowder in the cannon,” Inglis told commissioners. “When the wind caught it and it had fallen down, a child got a couple of burns through his shirt and on his finger.”

Inglis said he personally contacted the family after the incident and said the parents were focused on preventing a repeat occurrence rather than assigning blame.

As a result, Inglis announced the St. Marys Pirates Club will not be allowed to participate in next year’s parade unless it develops “an acceptable procedure” for firing its cannon safely.

He also said festival organizers are considering limiting cannon firing during the parade exclusively to the Fernandina Beach Pirates Club because its firing method does not use wadding.

“They don’t use any wadding,” Inglis said of the Fernandina Beach Pirates Club. “They just put the gunpowder in the cannon. The cannon fires off. The gunpowder burns off, and it disappears, dissipates.”

Minshew additionally raised concerns about the use of gunpowder during drought conditions and periods when fireworks are restricted because of fire danger.

“You learn from your mistakes and you move on,” Inglis said, while noting festival organizers had already implemented additional safety measures this year, including crowd barriers and enhanced float protections.

The Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival is one of Fernandina Beach’s largest annual events, routinely drawing tens of thousands of visitors to Amelia Island for its parade, food vendors, arts and crafts displays, and live entertainment.