On Friday, Owen Park beach looked a lot like Halloween. One child in a pumpkin dress chased another in a Spider-Man costume, while two men stood nearby sporting matching disco-ball headbands.
Welcome to First Friday in October.
Throughout the day there was live music, alongside a free clothing booth put on by MV Clothes to Go. Kids dug through bins searching for early Halloween costumes, while parents and families gathered to mingle on the hill. When the food trucks opened at 5 p.m., a line had already formed in front of Goldie’s Rotisserie food truck.
The day’s festivities ranged from a daytime art market to live music and an evening silent disco. The schedule doesn’t change much from week to week, but organizer Althea Freeman-Miller says the energy felt different this Friday.
“It’s the last one of the summer,” Ms. Freeman-Miller said. “October is bittersweet and sentimental.”
The First Fridays schedule runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“People can come with breakfast and stay all the way through silent disco,” said organizer Taylor Stone.
Ms. Stone initially joined First Fridays as an artist participant before becoming an organizer alongside Ms. Freeman-Miller four years ago.
Next year, First Fridays will celebrate its 10th year.
When Ms. Freeman-Miller started the festival in 2017, she said she wanted to form a community space for Islanders to gather.
“I thought it was important to create the community you want to live in,” she said. “I also wanted to support artists and musicians.”
Supporting local artists and musicians has remained central to the festival. This month’s celebration featured a parade and performance from the Upis Land Band. Musicians marched from the Mansion House Inn down Main street to join the party at Owen Park Beach.
Though the festival has always been free to attend and enjoy, First Fridays has paid more than $25,000 to musicians over the years from donations and grants. But this year was the first year that the event received funding from the town of Vineyard Haven.
“It’s great to see it grow every year as people trust it and know it more,” Ms. Freeman-Miller said. “And the kids get older!”
The festival’s growth has also come with an ongoing effort to listen to the community. Ms. Stone said the organization welcomes feedback.
“Everyone who organizes it is very open to feedback and changing what needs to be changed based on what the community wants,” she said.
Community members can attend the district’s public meetings to learn more about the Vineyard Haven Harbor Cultural District and other local arts and cultural organizations. The next open meeting will be on Oct. 8 at 6 p.m. in the Vineyard Haven library.
“We will do an overview of our First Fridays season, upcoming Vineyard Haven Harbor Cultural District projects, have MV Cultural Council talk about their grant applications and Circuit Arts talking about their upcoming call for art,” Ms. Stone said.