Thirty-one years of great vibes, great music and above all, great spirit of the community!

Bradstock XXXI, calling itself “the other one,” the different one, stems from Bud, chief of chiefs, observing that although this is the 31st Bradstock, it is actually the 30th year that Bradstock has been known to the public, having started as a friendly backyard party originally. 

The preparation that goes into this now annual event is a team effort of monumental proportions and virtually begins the day after the previous year’s event ends—from choosing the weekend’s theme to rallying the dedicated volunteers like Linda Bocchichio and Steve Larese, who with dozens of others return the week before, year after year to help make it happen.

Linda painted leaves and the bus chairs and Steve helped hoist the stage. In Steve’s words, “We are one small part of the big picture,” including the actual labor-intensive building of the massive stages under the direction of master carpenter Pete Carbocci.

The design team then realizes through paintings, the beautiful renderings of this year’s main stage theme created by Jen Berrotti. Yet another team of helpers serve pots and pots of meals to sustain the collective gathering of like-minded individuals working together to achieve one goal.

“About 50 to 75 people show up the Monday before Labor Day weekend to work,” said Dennis O’Doherty, smiling broadly backstage as he gets ready to announce the next band on the main stage. 

One of the circle of organizers known as “the Chiefs,” O’Doherty translates one of this year’s themes, which was inspired by “the school bus” of Ken Kesey, of “One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest” fame, outfitted to take him and his eclectic group of creative friends who called themselves “The Merry Band of Pranksters,” for a cross-country journey, adding a generator, building a rooftop turret, and decorating the bus with psychedelic paint. Kesey had asked Cowboy Neal Cassidy to drive the bus, a nod to his connection to Jack Kerouac’s Dean Moriarty character from “On the Road.”

Author Brian Hassett eloquently espoused the whole bus story for everyone to hear onstage right before David Amram, who had traveled in the original creative circle, came on to do his set. 

The music was amazing both days, with all the local favorites performing—the Brother Pluckers, the Famous Dr. Scanlon band, Soundswell, Shecky and the Twangtones, Gathering Time, the Falco Brothers and Miles to Dayton, to name just a few! 

There were parades of children, marching illuminated jellyfish, craftspeople, food vendors, artwork throughout the camp, bubbles floating everywhere and music filled the air! 

All money raised goes to Island Harvest and Camp Pa-Qua-Tuck. Through the common belief that doing good is the good thing to do, Bradstock continues to do good with the help of like-minded people who believe in the common good… the volunteers and the dedicated audience members who attend every year.

One big happy family… a microcosm of what could be. Happy Bradstock!