They live far from RI but really love its seafood, so they started this annual festival

T.J. McNulty is from New York and manages a construction company's office in Los Angeles.

Adrian Crawford is a native of Australia and does marketing for a cannabidiol, or CBD, company in Denver.

But they both love Rhode Island seafood so much that they take time off from their day jobs every September and fly to Providence to put on the Rhode Island Seafood Festival, which marked its 14th year in India Point Park this past weekend.

As Crawford put it: "We come out here once a year, throw a party and go home."

They've amassed a dedicated fan base, including one Canadian woman who enthusiastically followed their Facebook page for 12 years before finally flying out to Rhode Island this weekend to experience the festival for herself. This year, Crawford estimated, roughly 10,000 to 12,000 people sampled some of the state's finest seafood.

"Rhode Island has the best seafood in the country, hands down," Crawford said. "And what better way to showcase than to bring all the best restaurants in New England together."

Among the offerings: Lobster bao and lobster banh mi from Five 0 Five Fusion, lobster crostini from Scotti's Salumeria, and oysters from five local farms. Sunset Farm's maple-bacon scallop skewers sold out on Sunday afternoon, while guests danced to energetic rock bands and sipped drinks from pineapples.

"It’s our biggest event of the whole year," said Dave Roebuck, who owns Salt Pond Oysters and operates the Shuckin' Truck. Typically, he said, they'll go through about 7,000 oysters and 1,000 littlenecks at the festival.

Festival has grown up since its disastrous first year

McNulty, who is one of the event's original founders, first came to Providence to attend Johnson & Wales University, where he majored in business. After he graduated, he traveled all over the country for work, but always made a point of returning to Providence.

"Rhode Island is just a very special place," he said.

One of those visits took place shortly after the state finished moving Interstate 195, which helped him realize that India Point Park would be the perfect place for a seafood festival.

"The first year was an utter disaster," said McNulty, who organized the 2011 event with two friends who are no longer involved in its production.

They were all young and inexperienced, McNulty acknowledged, and "it was rough." (The Providence Journal, in an article titled: "Crowd left clamoring for chowder," reported that the organizers had exceeded their expected attendance numbers and sold hundreds of discounted tickets through Groupon, leading to long lines and irate customers.)

Crawford, who had befriended McNulty at a wedding in 2010, got involved later on, after McNulty retooled the event. In those early years, the festival didn't even charge admission, and felt "kind of just like a party for our buddies," Crawford recalled. (Tickets now cost $15.)

"Eventually, it evolved and matured, as we did," he said.

'We love throwing a party for Providence'

McNulty said that guests now routinely tell him that the Rhode Island Seafood Festival is the best-organized festival they've ever attended. Among the keys to its success: Making sure that there's plenty of diversity among vendors and their menus, so there aren't 10 different food trucks serving lobster rolls.

"It’s one of my favorite festivals of the year," said Ethan Farrell, who runs Sunset Farm with his father, Jeff.

This year, ongoing construction forced the event to move to a different part of India Point Park, but being in a larger space actually seems to have encouraged guests to linger longer, said McNulty, who acknowledged that he was nervous about the change.

"I like the bigger venue," Farrell said. "Hopefully, it stays here."

The event has no shortage of competitors, including the Charlestown Seafood Festival, the Ocean State Oyster Festival and the Newport Oyster and Chowder Festival. So, why should people put the Rhode Island Seafood Festival on their calendar for the first weekend after Labor Day?

"We don’t do it to make money," Crawford said. "We love throwing a party for Providence."

The organizers may not be from here, he noted, "but we also are not here to take advantage of the locals."

"I’ve never lived in Providence but I love this city with all my heart," Crawford said. "I lived in Maine and the lobster there is great. But the seafood here, hands down, is better than anywhere. And people come out for it."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island Seafood Festival: The story behind the 14-year tradition