A Berger Bite: Sea Witch casts a spell over region
Parade magazine recently claimed that Americans consume 350 slices of pizza per second. Even taking into account that the continental United States spans four time zones, that number seems excessive.
Realistically speaking, it couldn’t be any more than 348 slices per second, although 349 might be possible on Super Bowl Sunday.
In any case, that factoid got me thinking of sizeable events in Coastal Delaware, of which the Sea Witch Festival in Rehoboth Beach later this month may be the largest. It is an eclectic collection of events, including a broom tossing contest, a horse show on the beach, and a fiddlers’ festival. There is truly something for everyone.
It is estimated that upwards of 200,000 visitors will attend one or more events connected with this year’s three-day extravaganza. As one New York City real estate mogul has noted, “it will be huuuge.”
Included within those attendees will be a fair number of locals, who will distinguish themselves by being smart enough to park in a satellite lot and take one of the shuttle buses to the downtown venues.
Yet, despite its size and variety of events, the coastal Delawarean roots of the festival are above ground for all to see. For example, there’s the region’s fascination with man’s (and woman’s) best friend.
Time was that dogs were not allowed to roam freely within the corporate limits of most of the region’s larger cities and towns. Then, dog owners in Lewes succeeded in lobbying for and establishing the first dog park in Sussex County, where the canines have the run of the place.
If that weren’t enough, they (the dogs, not the owners) are now being allowed, nay encouraged, by the Sea Witch Festival organizers to don costumes and strut their stuff on the Rehoboth Boardwalk, in something called the Costumed Dog Parade.
Chances are they will leave their “mark” in more ways than one on the Boardwalk, thereby raising conflicting canine territorial claims with which the Rehoboth Beach City Council will wrestle for months to come.
The festival also reflects the region’s love of the motion picture arts and sciences, more commonly known as “the flicks.” Witness the Clayton Theatre in Dagsboro, Delaware’s last remaining single-screen movie house; the Cinema Art Theater in Lewes; and, of course, the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, scheduled for Nov. 4-12 this year, fittingly sandwiched around the high drama of the presidential election day.
Thus, it’s not surprising to see film as part of the Sea Witch Festival, although its screening room is located where you would least expect it.
It seems that the folks at the Ocean Suds Laundromat have adopted “Don’t be scared to do your laundry” as their theme for the festival. They will be featuring Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and a collection of horror films starring the late fright master Vincent Price on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Actually, the admonition to not be afraid to do one’s laundry is probably good advice for the other 362 days of the year as well.
Gastronomically and chronologically, the Sea Witch Festival is the coast’s answer to Oktoberfest, with oysters and ale replacing bratwurst and beer. This, of course, has not stopped local entrepreneurs from combining the two, as they have done at the Bethany Beer, Barley, and Broom Company.
There, they crush the barley kernels to create the main ingredient in their beer, and use the barley straw to form the bristles for the brooms they make for those witches who prefer flying to drinking.
Naturally, with its Halloween theme, the festival also has some events designed to scare attendees, such as the Haunted Bonfire & Graveyard on Dewey Beach, Spook-tacular Aerial Yoga at the Kaya Wellness Center, and, most frightening of all, the Pumpkin Seed Spitting Contest at the Grub Grocery.
These events are possibly not as scary as making a turn on to, or off of, Route 1, but they are scary none the less.
Mike Berger is a freelance writer and retired university administrator with a home in Lewes. Contact him at edadvice@comcast.net.