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.
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.
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.
Life in the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association (informally called the Camp Ground) is a unique experience, and never more so than on Illumination Night. Each August the event draws thousands of visitors, as residents adorn their cottages with lanterns in a tradition dating back to 1868.
Bases loaded, bottom of the ninth, two outs, one ball, two strikes. At this point, it could be anyone’s game. Little League bragging rights are on the line.
On August 20, the Camp Ground will turn into a fantasy land of Victorian gingerbread houses and hundreds of paper lanterns hanging from porches. Welcome once again to the Grand Illumination.
