Incoming ferries are all but sold out, hotels and harbors are full, parking spaces a hot commodity — the Fourth of July is almost here and by most reports signs are shaping up for a busy season on the Vineyard.
“To all of us it feels like it’s extra busy already,” said Martha’s Vineyard Airport manager Ann Richart this week. She said at peak times there are 1,000 people in the airport and a TSA line that stretches out the door.
It’s the same story at the Steamship Authority, where all five ferries on the Vineyard route are nearly sold out for the week with only sporadic trips available, according to general manager Bob Davis.
In the first 21 days of June, 176,000 passengers made the trip between Woods Hole and the Vineyard, averaging some 8,400 people per day. Mr. Davis said he expects the numbers to continue to climb with the approach of the Fourth, which falls on a Wednesday this year.
The Oak Bluffs visitor center had a record day on Tuesday with 400 people stopping by the booth at the foot of Circuit avenue, according to John Newsom who has been manning the booth for 15 years.
Hotels are also booked. On the website Last Minute Lodging MV that tracks hotel room availability on the Island, As of Thursday, only two of the more than 80 lodging options on the Vineyard had available rooms for an overnight stay on the Fourth. The 120 rooms at the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown are fully booked, the front desk clerk said.
Harbors too are doing a brisk business.
“We’re flat out full and busy,” said Oak Bluffs harbor master Todd Alexander. He said he expects to see some 200 boats in the harbor by the Fourth.
“People are planning for the weekend before, the week of and the weekend after the Fourth,” said Gabe Bergeron, who works at Cottage City Bicycles in Oak Bluffs. He reported long lines for bike rentals all week.
Holiday week activities are just as numerous as the people, but the main event on Wednesday will be the Fourth of July parade, when all roads lead to Edgartown.
The parade steps off promptly at 5 p.m. from the Edgartown School.
“Anyone who’s not ready gets left behind,” said parade marshal Joseph E. Sollitto Jr., who is also clerk of superior courts. Mr. Sollitto has marched in the parade since 1972 and has led it as grand marshal for the past five years while wearing his U.S. Marine Corps uniform.
“It’s fun to do,” he said. “It’s a real privilege and I plan on doing it as long as I can.”
The parade makes its way down Main street, around Starbuck’s Neck and eventually back up Main street the wrong way.
At nightfall, fireworks will go off over the Edgartown harbor. The show is slated to start at 9 p.m.
On Wednesday a parking ban begins at 3 p.m. on downtown streets in Edgartown. The Vineyard Transit Authority will reroute service from Church street near the visitor center beginning at 4 p.m. The Chappaquiddick ferry will stop carrying cars between 4:15 and 6 p.m. during the parade (passengers will be carried). The ferry will shut down during the fireworks and resume service again at about 9:45 p.m.
Two other smaller parades will be held early in the day.
In Aquinnah a children’s parade begins at 10 a.m. on Old South Road.
The Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association also hosts a children’s parade in the historic Camp Ground that begins at 10 a.m. No bikes or motorized scooters are allowed. The parade ends with an old-fashioned ice cream social.
Government offices and public buildings will be closed but most restaurants and retail establishments will be open on the holiday.
The Vineyard Gazette office will be open until 3 p.m.
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