Tomorrow, Bermuda will kick off celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary of its birth as a nation.

Also tomorrow, another celebration will take place marking a slightly smaller milestone the sixth anniversary of Chewstick, a group which encourages people from all walks to life to simply perform.

"It seems like only yesterday that people started buzzing about this vibrant, collaborative organisation," said Gavin (Djata) Smith, the founder of Chewstick. "Where has the time gone?"

He added: "Now, six years later the buzz is still palpable, with just about everyone in Bermuda knowing, or at least having heard about this creative sanctuary."

Mr. Smith said despite the fact that it was well-known, people still seemed to have misconceptions about the group.

"People that haven't been still think of it as being a poetry night, and while people definitely read poetry at Chewstick, that is only one aspect of what you will experience when you attend," he said.

One of those experiences is Chewstick's legendary open mike jam session when people are encouraged to sign up in 'The Book' if they want to take the stage. One of the colourful cast of characters on the Chewstick team hosts the night, adding context to performances and often times tearing up the stage themselves between acts.

"Performers get to perform from anywhere between three and ten minutes, and are literally allowed to do whatever they want," said Mr. Smith.

He added: "We have seen everything from singers, to comedians, ministers, shaolin kung fu, dancers and, of course, musicians.

"We've pretty much seen it all, though I think one of the most exciting examples is one time when Bonnie Langille attended and jammed with the band, with bagpipes!

People can visit www.chewstick.com to see the video clip if you don't believe me."

On what makes the vibe at Chewstick truly unique, he said: "It is this truly open format, all are welcome and encouraged to attend and take part.

"This is no doubt why it has been able to survive and thrive for all these years, and why they have been able to attract people from all walks of life to venues that are typically off the average night owl's path."

Chewstick had its original start at Hilly's, which now houses Bootsie's Comedy Club. It then made a home at Champions, on Reid Street, for several years.

"It was there that we mastered our format before moving on to Bootsie's, Level and now Spinning Wheel, which is arguably our most challenging venue to date" Mr. Smith explained.

"But Spinning Wheel has been a truly magical experience for Chewstick, there were definitely a lot of reservations about going there. We were unsure how people would react to it, and if the cross-section of people would still come.

"It has been more successful than we could have imagined. And thanks to the faith of LB, Steve Simons and Noel Hodgson of Spinning Wheel, have had in our organisation, we have been able to make it a huge success and really introduce the whole uptown area to people that had written it off as an option.

"To be honest it has been one of my proudest accomplishments.

"And it really is quite a sight to see the incredibly diverse following making their way through the regular Court Street inhabitants to attend this oasis of culture and performance, all leaving in the wee hours of the morning beaming with excitement and gratitude at the whole experience."

Now after a successful six years what does the future hold for Chewstick?

Mr. Smith's response was: "The lounge is what people most know Chewstick for, but we also try and get into the prisons and schools as much as possible to bring workshops, performances and free expression exercises to build confidence and tolerance.

"I hope we can expand those operations in 2009. We're also gearing up for Beachfest 2009, our largest annual event, now going into its fourth year on July 31.

"We've begun the process of developing our charity status in order to better finance our operations and I hope this will lead to us eventually finding our own space to cultivate day-in, day-out creative and cultural stimulation. So if you have a space please let them know!"

In the immediate future however, they are preparing for their sixth anniversary celebration, which takes place on Saturday at Spinning Wheel.

"This will be our first time having the anniversary on a Saturday, as we usually stick to our Sunday schedule, however in the past this meant that students back after Christmas vacation always missed out, plus we want people to be able to stay late and celebrate, and we feel like this is our way of contributing to the kickoff for Bermuda's 400th celebrations.

"We'll have open-mic vibes to start, then featured performances including Canjelae, Olybhosh, Ninja Cutty, Flookie and more before finishing off the night with the Dirkistan Freedom Fighters and Vibez Alliance playing the hottest tunes.

"It should be a pretty big, fun and entertaining night so be sure to get there early if you want to get in!"

Doors open at 9 p.m. and tickets are $20, available at the door. For more information call 504 2439, email info@chewstick.com, or check out www.chewstick.com or the Chewstick Group on Facebook.