Island Time, August 15 - 18: All's Fair - Martha's Vineyard Online

Island Time, August 15 – 18: All’s Fair

August 15, 2019

Summer peaks this weekend, with the Oak Bluffs fireworks Friday night and the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Fair through Sunday. Overwhelmed by all the activities? Here are our best bets, from the Complete Martha’s Vineyard Calendar.

Friday, August 16 | Light up the night

The gates to the Ag Fair open at 10 a.m. this morning (and at 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday). Tonight and tomorrow the gates close at 11 p.m. They close at 7 p.m. on Sunday.

Big Mama’s Home of the Blues is the setting for Low Down Dirty Blues, a musical revue at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse. Performances start at 7:30 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays until August 28.

July 4 may belong to Edgartown, but the Oak Bluffs fireworks are literally the highlight of August. Arrive at Ocean Park early to listen to the band, then around 9 p.m. look to the night sky for a pyrotechnic extravaganza.

At the movies, it’s Jaws at the Capawock in Vineyard Haven at 4:30 p.m., Angry Birds 2 at the Strand in Oak Bluffs at 5 p.m. and The Farewell at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center in Vineyard Haven at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, August 17 | Tilt a whirl

The 5K Run for Jabberwocky takes off at 9:15 a.m. with a half-mile Kids Fun Run at 8:45. Both start and finish at the Farm Institute in Edgartown.

At the fair, the Antique Tractor Pull begins at 10 a.m. and the 43rd annual Woodsmen’s Contest starts at 11 a.m.

In dance, Ronald K. Brown/Evidence bring the work Grace@20 to the Martha’sVineyard Performing Arts Center in Oak Bluffs at 7 p.m.

Movies tonight include Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw at the Capawock at 7:30 p.m. and the 1980 reggae film Babylon, released in the U.S. for the first time, at the Strand at 8 p.m. The Film Center is closed tonight.

Sunday, August 18 | Listen to the music

The Edgartown Fire Department hosts its annual Pancake Breakfast at the firehouse from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., with fire rescue demos, games for kids, tours of the fire museum and trucks and a visit from Sparky the Fire Dog. All ages are welcome.

It’s the last day of the fair, where the Women’s Skillet Throw starts at 3 p.m. and the Holy Rock & Roll Revue appears in the music tent at 4:30 p.m.

From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Featherstone Center for the Arts in Oak Bluffs hosts its annual Potters Bowl, where you can buy a handmade pottery bowl and enjoy a fresh meal of soup, bread and dessert, all to benefit the year-round community art center.

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dave Mason plays a 5 p.m. concert at the Performing Arts Center.

Art openings tonight include Teresa Yuan, Brian Kirkpatrick, Cynthia Woehrle and Margaret Emerson at Old Sculpin Gallery in Edgartown and, at the Granary Gallery in West Tisbury, Mary Sipp Green, Scott Terry, Thomas Hart Benton and Alfred Eisenstaedt. Both receptions begin at 5 p.m.

This is the final evening of the annual Built on Stilts Dance Festival at Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs. Performances begin at 8 p.m. following a drum circle and admission is free.

At the movies, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood plays the Capawock at 7:30 p.m. and the Strand has Do the Right Thing at 8 p.m.

Featured photo by Maria Thibodeau