GREEN COVE SPRINGS - Despite the cloudy, overcast, and rainy weather, the annual Soul Food and Music Festival went on without a hitch on Saturday, Oct. 4, with more than 4,000 people in attendance.

The 24th installment of the free event began at noon with a parade along Palmetto Avenue and west on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. 

Parade Grand Marshall Tony Battle, a retired Clay County District Schools coach and physical education instructor, led a variety of floats and cars through the streets as onlookers watched. Parade participants included the National Guard, Clay County Fire Rescue, Green Cove Springs City Council, Lake Asbury Junior High cheerleaders, Duval Kountry Stepperz and the Bucket List Travelers of America, who came from Orlando to join the event.

Following the parade, the crowd gathered at Vera Francis Hall Park to enjoy a variety of booths and vendors, food trucks, a dance contest, a barbecue rib cook-off, and a horseshoe toss. Live music was performed throughout the event by numerous artists, including the Special Formula Band, Soulful Roots Band, Jimmy Brown, and Curtis Reynolds. Brown is from the iconic '70s funk and jazz band Brick, while Reynolds is known for his time in Kalmozoo's Ripple. 

The kids' zone featured face painting, arts and crafts, toy giveaways and balloon animals.

This year, the event also included a free medical clinic.  Ascension St. Vincent's, LAS Marketplace Ministries, Vituity Cares, and Clay Behavioral Health partnered with the festival to provide free medical and dental assessments, medical equipment giveaways, health education, haircuts and groceries.