TOWNSEND — Counterculture, music and the arts will be celebrated over the next three days with the fourth annual Weekend at Bertha’s festival at Fire Base Lloyd.
The gathering brings more than 30 international, national, regional and local acts across two stages. It will also have food trucks, artisans, vendors, an interactive kids’ area and complimentary camping with all tickets.
And, illuminating the festival, the Move Me Brightly Lightshow will project liquid lights out of a modified school bus across the field and onto the stage.
The Pete Best Band performs tonight at 7, presenting originals and music of the ’60s, plus songs Mr. Best played with The Beatles and The Quarrymen from 1960-62.
The music continues Saturday, along with an appearance by counterculture presidential candidate Vermin Supreme at 7 p.m. He'll deliver his platform, then host a Q&A about how he wants to solve U.S. problems.
Weekend at Bertha’s closes with national touring artists Brown Eyed Women, the country's only all-female Grateful Dead tribute band, Sunday at 8:30 p.m.
Sunday will also feature solely female-led projects and music, as well as workshops from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., then Philadelphia’s own Miss Cantaloupe will perform its psychedelic sunshine pop.
A surprise guest will speak on empowerment, the vote and lobbying for change, and Bonnie Kane will follow, bringing an experimental set.
Finally, there will be both solo and dual performances from funk synth artists Natalie Brooke and Rachel May.
Plus, several musicians and bands will appear on a side stage today and Saturday.
Past featured acts at Weekend at Bertha’s have included Molly Hatchet, Artimus Pyle of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Tom Constanten of Grateful Dead.
It started during pandemic times, the brainchild of brothers Dwayne and Rich Todd and their partners, Shelby Sachs and Marcelle Anascue, all of Claymont.
“The guys co-own a family business together with their mom and dad and other family members. And it just started in the warehouse. We were just thinking during the pandemic about all of this live music getting canceled. Everybody was doing the Zoom stuff. We are a part of the counterculture group, the Diamond State Merry Pranksters, and we just decided that we’re going to do a music festival. And whoever wants to come out will come out, and whoever musicianwise wants to participate will participate,” Ms. Sachs said.
“We just believed that live music should continue and that people should have a safe space to enjoy the music and continue the vibes. We believe that music is healing, and a lot of people sort of missed that intimate experience with all of the music being more online during that time.”
Enter the Merry Pranksters, a group of people who formed around American author Ken Kesey in 1964 and sometimes lived communally at his homes in California and Oregon.
The group is noted for the sociological significance of a lengthy road trip members took in summer 1964, traveling across the United States in a psychedelically painted school bus, enigmatically and variably labeled, “Further” or “Furthur.”
Their early escapades were chronicled by author Tom Wolfe in “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.” They also have ties to Grateful Dead.
“The group in Delaware is continuing the tradition of the original Merry Pranksters, with community work, theater, music, art and lots of Day-Glow in our locale. We believe that improvisational action, in the spirit of humor and goodwill, can be a catalyst for change in many very serious fields,” Dwayne Todd explained.
With the addition of the satirical candidate Vermin Supreme — known for wearing a boot as a hat and carrying a comically large toothbrush — Weekend at Bertha’s will emphasize the polarization of the nation.
“This year, we’re focused on the election, the political climate in the country. It really seems like the division in this country is bigger than it ever has been. Our Saturday headliner, Vermin Supreme, is a perennial candidate. ... His supporters are called 'bootlickers.' He promises everybody a free pony, and the guy is satirizing politics,” said Rich Todd, who named the festival after the Grateful Dead song, “Bertha,” while watching the movie, “Weekend at Bernie’s.”
“I really think that what we need to do is take a step back and realize that things do change when the presidents change. But overall, things aren’t changing all that much. It’s literally an elephant-and-donkey show, and both parties have their agendas. But ultimately, they have to work together.”
The 30-acre Fire Base Lloyd, at 474 Fleming Landing Road in Townsend, has a capacity of 1,000 people. Rich Todd hopes to fill the area for Mr. Best tonight.
“Everybody knows The Beatles. But not everybody knows who Pete Best is. Everybody knows Ringo (Starr) and Paul (McCartney) and all them. But, before they blew up, he was the guy. He was the drummer that helped them to get famous,” he said.
“He just happened to get left behind when they got their contract. And sometimes, that’s the way it goes. Our team thinks that he was an integral part of the success that they ended up having as musicians.”
The Pete Best Band will be preceded by roots rock reggae artist Kenny Vanella at 5 and followed at 9:30 by Rainbow Full of Sound, which will present Grateful Dead’s album, “Blues for Allah,” in its entirety, plus many other classics.
Other bands today include Delaware’s own The Black Mambas and the Psychedelic Elders from New Jersey. Tonight will conclude just past midnight with the festival’s first curated drum circle.
On Saturday, performing before Vermin Supreme at 4:30 p.m. will be Mums the Word, a funky jam band from Philadelphia and South Jersey. Following Vermin Supreme, at 8:30, is One-Eyed Jack, a psychedelic rock band spanning three decades.
Other acts are Juggling Suns from New Jersey, Urban Shaman Attack from Delaware, Mysterytrain from Pennsylvania and FlowPoetry from the Midwest.
Gates open at noon each day for the family-friendly festival.
Tickets and information are available at weekendatberthas.com or at the gate. There are a variety of options, including general admission, VIP single day, general or VIP weekend, kids tickets for $1 and RV passes.
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