Among all the months on the Vineyard calendar, the ecology of August is unique. One week in particular stands alone at the top of the summer food chain, with three Island traditions. It all begins Wednesday with the Night of the Grand Illumination in Oak Bluffs. It continues with the opening of the 161st annual Livestock Show and Fair of the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society. And it peaks dramatically on Friday night with the fireworks at Ocean Park in Oak Bluffs.

No one dismisses the fair, Illumination Night or the fireworks with that cliché of contemporary boredom: Been there, done that. Of course we have — the very repetition is part of the charm. And as long as there are Vineyard summers to be savored, we will look forward to enjoying these three again.