Island Time, August 23-25: What to Do This Weekend on Martha's Vineyard

a close-up photo of the front of a baby-blue vintage pickup truck with white sidewall tires and red rims

Island Time, August 23-25: What to Do This Weekend on Martha’s Vineyard

August 22, 2019

August on Martha’s Vineyard has a little more elbow room after the fair, but there’s still plenty to do all weekend long. We make a few suggestions here, and you can find everything that’s happening on the Island in the Complete Martha’s Vineyard Calendar.

Friday, August 23 | Words, music, movies and plants

Learn about the plants, people and history that make Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury one of the Vineyard’s special places: Hour-long guided Arboretum tours start at 10 a.m. each Wednesday through Saturday until August 31.

Island libraries hosting events for kids today include the Edgartown Public Library, which teams up with the Martha’s Vineyard Family Center for Discovery Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to noon and offers daily drop-in crafts starting at 11 a.m.; the Oak Bluffs library, with Toddler Time songs and a story at 10:30 a.m. and the Vineyard Haven Library with its weekly Game Time from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Grace Church in Vineyard Haven serves its award-winning lobster rolls from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. for $20, including chips and a drink. Hot dogs are $3 and pie is $4 a slice. Nearby at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, the musical revue Low Down Dirty Blues continues its run at 7:30 p.m.

In Edgartown, Livingston Taylor plays the Old Whaling Church at 8 p.m., FirstBourne plays metal at the Wharf at 10 p.m. and the Port Hunter presents Hitch and the Giddyup, also at 10 p.m.

On local movie screens, Jaws returns to the Capawock in Vineyard Haven at 4:30 p.m. and the Strand in Oak Bluffs has Angry Birds 2 at 5 p.m.

Saturday, August 24 | Run, walk or crawl

All ages can take part in the annual Sullivan 5K Run/Walk, Kids Dash and Diaper Derbyin Washington Park, Oak Bluffs this morning. The diaper derby crawling race starts at 9 a.m., the kids dash (10 and younger) at 9:15, walkers at 9:30 and runners at 10 a.m., all to benefit Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.

This is peak season to shop the West Tisbury Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to noon at the Grange Hall, where you’ll find fresh, ripe local sweet corn, tomatoes and countless other vegetables and fruits. At the Farm Institute in Edgartown, young foodies aged 6 and up can learn to prepare the summer’s bounty with West Tisbury School chef Jenny Devivo in a Kids Can Cook class from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Head all the way up-Island for the Aquinnah Artisans Fair, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Town Hall on State Road, to find pottery, wampum, jewelry, clothing, glass, food and personal products and artwork.

An All Island Veterans Celebration takes place at the American Legion Post 257 in Vineyard Haven from noon to 5 p.m. At 6 p.m., Island author, artist and photographer Dan Waters will give a talk called Capturing Your Moment at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, which is showing an exhibition of Mr. Waters’ portraits that will be archived for posterity.

At the movies, Zach Gottsagen, an actor with Down syndrome, stars with Thomas Haden Church and Shia Laboeuf in critically acclaimed The Peanut Butter Falcon, screening at 5 p.m. at the Strand. The Martha’s Vineyard Film Center in Vineyard Haven is showing the new Ron Howard documentary Pavarotti at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, August 25 | Grab an oar

Yogis can move with intention in Morning Beach Yoga at the Edgartown Lighthouse, or among artwork in West Tisbury with Yoga in the Field at the Field Gallery, both at 8 a.m.

The annual Oar & Paddle Regatta on Sengekontacket Pond begins at 8:30 a.m. at the Little Bridge in Oak Bluffs. The 2.4 mile water race is open to anything human-powered that floats. Kids and dogs are welcome to take part and kayaks are available free by advance arrangement.

The weekly Chilmark Flea Market runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 142 North Road, the Vineyard Artisans Summer Festival takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Grange Hall and the Oak Bluffs Open Market is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Washington Park.

The Tisbury Fire Department holds its 13th annual Car Show at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School from noon to 4 p.m., with food, music, vendors, a climbing wall and a bounce house. Admission is free for spectators and competing cars can be registered on the spot.

An artists’ reception—with a Stina Sayre fashion show—at Featherstone Center for the Arts in Oak Bluffs, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., celebrates the opening of a new group exhibition, Inseparable: Science + Art, curated by Chappaquiddick painter Elizabeth Whelan.

Movies tonight include Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, 7:30 p.m. at the Capawock and the yacht-racing documentary Maiden, 7:30 p.m. at the Film Center.