With Illumination Night, the Agricultural Fair and Oak Bluffs fireworks all on the docket, this week marks the high point of traditional summer events on Martha’s Vineyard. It all begins at sundown tonight, with the 150th Grand Illumination.
Grand Illumination Night has been a summer staple on Martha's Vineyard since 1869, when the first event was held in honor of the visiting governor of Massachusetts. After sundown on the third Wednesday in August, lanterns of all kinds cast a magical glow over the charming gingerbread cottages at the Martha's Vineyard Camp Ground.
Stars sparkled, pink and gold and orange lanterns bobbed, and a soft wind played among the chimes in the Camp Ground Wednesday night for the 104th annual Illumination Night.
The Camp Ground lit up for the 148th Grand Illumination Wednesday. Before the lanterns were turned on, crowds packed the Tabernacle for a concert by the Vineyard Haven Band and a community sing.
The 148th Grand Illumination is tonight at the Camp Ground in Oak Bluffs. At sundown, the gingerbread houses will glow with the light of thousands of lanterns, part of a summertime tradition dating to the 1860s. Events begin at 7:30 p.m.
Tonight gingerbread houses will be aglow once again for Grand Illumination Night, a cherished Camp Ground tradition for almost 150 years. The action gets underway at 7:30 p.m., and the first lantern is lit at dusk.
