After a six-year hiatus, the Martha’s Vineyard Songwriting Festival is returning to the Island for a weekend of performances.

The event takes place Sept. 20 to 21, with shows at The Strand and The Ritz in Oak Bluffs.

The festival features songwriters behind the hits from renowned singers such as Morgan Wallen, Selena Gomez, Dierks Bentley and more. Rising singer-songwriters will also be featured as part of the Island’s Tivoli Day celebrations. In addition to performances, the songwriters will talk about their craft.

Festival organizer Matt Casey said he is excited to bring the event back to the Island despite challenges that have arisen in recent years.

“I’ve noticed how hard it’s been for a lot of music events on the Islands, with rising costs and transportation,” Mr. Casey said. “I knew I could bring this festival back and it would be successful because it was always really well supported in the past.”

In the past the event featured numerous songwriting workshops but it had to be scaled back this time. But the energy and experience will be just as vibrant, Mr. Casey said.

“Being able to bring all these amazing songwriters up from Nashville, they always loved coming to the Vineyard, especially coming from heat, no water, to a beautiful Island in September where people love music and always support the festival,” he said.

Mr. Casey has deep ties to the Island.

“I’ve always gone to the Island since I was a little kid and eventually my parents ended up buying a place in West Tisbury,” he said. “I got married at the Harbor View, so I love it and I feel like people don’t understand what [the Island] is like until they’ve been there.”

Morgan Johnston, a Cape Cod native, is one of the rising stars slated to perform. She has fond memories of growing up in Marston Mills in Barnstable, and said she is looking forward to reconnecting with family and friends.

“I was very blessed in the sense that the community of people from where I’m from really supported me and lifted me up,” she said.

For her, country music stands out due to its ability to connect with audiences through storytelling. “I’ve always been very drawn to lyrics,” she said. “I think that country music has that storyline that is really important. Music breaks this unbelievable barrier between people to connect, which is what we are all here on earth to do.”

With larger music festivals on the Island such as Beach Road Weekend ceasing operations, Mr. Casey feels it is essential to find a way to continue bringing live music to the Island.

“I think what people are finding is sometimes on the Vineyard you have to not try to scale things up too much if you really want to have an experience where everyone’s happy but also that’s not too cost prohibitive,” he said.

Local support has been key, according to Mr. Casey, who hopes to make the Songwriting Festival an annual event again.

“We don’t need huge sponsors,” he said. “We’re just trying to make sure we can pay for flights, hotels and all that stuff for the artists. So the community support’s been huge. And just being part of the whole Tivoli Day weekend, that’s been great.”

For information and tickets, visit marthasvineyardsongwritersfest.com.