Paul Drumm can identify the festival by its scent alone, a result of frying clam cakes at Ninigret Park for so many years. Each August, the familiar sensations reappear, cornmeal batter sizzling in hot oil, the scent of Cajun seasoning wafting from a few booths down, propane hissing beneath a fifty-gallon chowder pot, and the horn section of Eight to the Bar warming up before their set. The Charlestown Seafood Festival is back, and so is its close-knit community of vendors and entertainers.
Still Frying After All These Years
Kenyon’s Grist Mill sits at the center of the festival community, one of the real treasures of South County. The mill holds the distinction of being the oldest manufacturing operation in Rhode Island, with a milling history in the village of Usquepaugh that dates back to 1696. The current mill, built in 1886 on the banks of the Queen’s River, has been owned by the Drumm family since 1971. Paul has shared that family tradition at the seafood festival since almost its inception, serving fresh New England and Rhode Island chowder made on-site alongside the clam cakes he has been frying since his teenage years.
“That’s basically my bill of fare,” he said. He credits his own booth’s success to keeping his menu simple.
These days, however, his son is doing most of the sweating behind the fryer.
“I’m feeling guiltier these days because now my son is doing all the hard work that I used to do,” Paul admitted, joking that he has gotten “too lazy, too old, to be busting my butt anymore.”
This year, he is introducing a johnnycake demonstration next to his booth, offering festivalgoers a firsthand look at how the mill’s signature product is crafted.
Feeding the People, One Pan at a Time
Just a short distance away stands Chili Brothers, a Cajun and Southern kitchen that has similarly cemented its status as a landmark institution. Founded by Rhode Island natives Kenny Lamb and Ken “Pa” Hughes in 1992, the Stafford, Connecticut, operation began a few years after the festival started.
According to managing member Amber Wakley, the transition of the business’s ownership carries a deep personal legacy. Avery Schold, a Connecticut native, discovered his love for Cajun cuisine as a boy while visiting bluegrass festivals with his family. He began working at Chili Brothers when he was only 12 years old, eventually rising to take over the business.
Following his untimely passing at age 30, his cousins, longtime friends, and Amber stepped up to keep his passion alive. Today, they honor his memory by donating approximately seventy-five percent of the season’s proceeds to support local needs, from resolving school lunch debts to assisting families with medical bills.
Amber shared that no one works at Chili Brothers for the money.
“Yes, we do pay ourselves. Not well,” Amber laughed, adding that whatever goes into the tip jar usually goes right back out, often funding group dinners for the crew.
Behind the scenes, she explained, a completely different side of the festival thrives — one fueled by a community of neighbors who are always ready to assist each other, whether that means sharing a shade tent, tools, or ice. Her crew camps onsite the whole weekend, fifty yards from their booth, in what they call the Chili Brothers Grotto.
When asked what she enjoys best about the weekend, she answers without a moment’s hesitation, “Most definitely the people.”
Every year, Paul and his crew trade pans of clam cakes and chowder for tubs of Chili Brothers jambalaya, a tradition that has outlasted leadership transitions on both sides.
“Everybody works together,” Paul said. “It’s a very nice atmosphere.”
“It’s actually like in our motto, Feed the People,” Amber said. “That extends to just sort of community gathering, and that’s really what it is to us.”
The Chili Brothers crew treats slow moments behind the booth as invitations for mischief. One year, they kept a jar of “free compliments,” silly handwritten notes patrons could pull out and take with them. Another favorite bit, known as “fishing for people,” involves casting a fishing line rigged with a wallet out into the crowd. Amber says the crew has plenty of inside jokes, too, most of which, she admitted, were unfit to print. Every evening, right as the sun goes down, the whole crew pauses for a one-minute toast to Avery, no matter how long the line is — a ritual that has become as much a part of the booth’s identity as the jambalaya itself.
The Woman Who Knows Everyone’s Number
Nearly everyone credits one person with building the seafood festival community: Heather Paliotta, the Charlestown Chamber of Commerce’s executive director. Under her leadership, the festival has grown from a modest single-day event with a handful of vendors into a three-day celebration complete with fireworks, a car and bike show, a kid zone, and headline entertainment. Paul remembers what it looked like before her, a small operation run by a handful of chamber volunteers, including Joe Cuomo, Gil Wallender, and Vince Ceriak, squeezed into a single Sunday with barely any water or electricity on site.
“There was really not much there,” he recalled.
Heather has reshaped nearly every part of the festival, yet Paul says it maintains the intimacy he remembers from decades past. Ask him how she does it, and he does not hesitate.
“She’s smart. She thinks things through and looks at the issues and says, ‘What are the issues going to be?’ And, ‘Let’s fix them!’ and gets it all done,” he said.
Her influence extends beyond the festival schedule and securing sponsorships. She has spent years building relationships with the town, electricians, rental companies, and other tradespeople, allowing vendors at Kenyon’s and Chili Brothers to build their entire booths from scratch each summer.
New vendors also receive exceptional treatment. Heather often sends first-year food booths straight to Paul for guidance, a small habit that has strengthened the festival’s culture even as its footprint has grown.
“Those people who were there last year, you know they’re coming back this year because she always treats them right,” Paul said. “That’s what really makes it successful.”
For him, the loyalty runs deeper than business. “It’s the one [event] that’s fun for me, and that’s why I’ll continue to come,” he said, “because it’s like going home.”
Old and New Friends on Stage
No seafood festival worth its salt — pun intended — can rely solely on food. The musical lineup has also expanded dramatically since the event began. Sunday afternoon belongs in part to Eight to the Bar, the swing and boogie woogie band founded in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1975 by keyboardist and vocalist Cynthia Lyon, who still leads the group after five decades.
Eight to the Bar has toured all over the East Coast and abroad, opening for acts including Manhattan Transfer and Ray Charles. The band shares a time-honored connection with Charlestown, dating back decades.
“It was Sunday, August 2nd, 1998,” Cynthia said of the group’s first appearance there, still a little stunned by the math. “Twenty-eight years ago was our first gig there.”
This event, Cynthia admits, holds sentimental value for the band.
“It’s the one gig, it’s always been magical for us,” she said. “It fills our hearts.”
As the sun sets on Sunday evening, the crowd shifts gears for Raise Your Hands, the Connecticut-based Bon Jovi tribute act fronted by TJ Simkewicz.
The five members of Raise Your Hands did not come together as strangers. TJ has known his guitarist for years through the New England cover band circuit, and the rest of the band through existing connections.
“Everybody gets along, and there’s no egos, and we always go out and have a great time,” TJ said.
Formed in 2018, the same year Bon Jovi entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the five-piece band has become one of the busiest tribute acts in the Northeast.
“We’re fortunate to be headlining it on Sunday evening this year,” TJ said. “So we’re very excited about that.”
Last year marked the band’s festival debut, sharing the bill with AC/DC tribute Dirty Deeds, and TJ still reminisces about the crowd’s response to their first appearance.
“We were only there one time, but they were really into it,” he said, “and they were definitely devoted to loving the ‘80s music.”
The festival features an extensive entertainment lineup that easily fills an entire weekend. Patrons can enjoy tribute acts to iconic bands like Queen, Styx, Foreigner, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, as well as wandering entertainers, including balloon twisters and jugglers, roaming throughout the venue. The festival’s famous fireworks display caps off Saturday evening.
What Keeps Them Coming Back
The exceptional food and live music are only a fraction of what brings vendors back year after year. The true appeal lies in the shared experience: camping out for the entire weekend, reconnecting with old friends, and forging new connections. It is defined by the dedicated volunteers — many of them retirees — who consistently return to bartend and staff the gates. Backstage, bands share stories, while food booths trade meals in the spirit of camaraderie, knowing everyone is in it together. This unique atmosphere seamlessly transforms first-time attendees into devoted regulars.
Whether your idea of a perfect festival day is working through a plate of Chili Brothers jambalaya (with or without alligator!), sipping bottomless root beers, playing midway games, or singing along with Raise Your Hands under the evening sky, the Charlestown Seafood Festival has built forty-one years of evidence that there is room at the table — and the dance floor — for everyone.
The 41st Annual Charlestown Seafood Festival, presented by the Charlestown Chamber of Commerce, takes place at Ninigret Park on August 7-9. Gates open at noon on Friday and at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, with the festival running until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 9 p.m. Sunday. Visit charlestownseafoodfestival.com/ for more information. General admission is $14 for adults, $10 for seniors and military members with ID, and free for children 10 and under. Parking is free, though a $2 donation is encouraged.