The Big Week

The Big Week

August 11, 2022

Hold on to your hats, here comes The Big Week. But before you surrender to the (joyful) madness of Grand Illumination Night, The Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Fair, and the Oak Bluffs Fireworks, take advantage of the shows, speakers and classes crowding the weekend calendar (find highlights below).

If the kids are excited about next week, take them to the Martha’s Vineyard Museum to make Japanese lanterns on Saturday morning (August 13) or to lantern-painting events for kids at both the Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven libraries on Wednesday, August 17. And make sure you all have your Fair entry forms filled out and turned in by Sunday, August 14 at 5 p.m.

As always find a full list of Island events and activities on The Complete Martha’s Vineyard Calendar.

Built on Stilts — the Island’s community dance festival — begins its 26th season today, Thursday, August 11, at Union Chapel. The show runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights this week and closes out on Saturday, Sunday and Monday (August 22) of the following week. Performances begin at 8 p.m. but you’ll want to arrive by 7:45 p.m. to see the drum circle and dancers’ warm-up before every show.
Family-friendly reggae festival Music on the Rock #2 happens on Sunday, August 14 from 3 to 10 p.m. at the Cove Golf & Grill in Vineyard Haven. The event features nationally touring bands Lutan Fyah and Dwight and Nicole, as well as local acts including Workman Song + Siren Mayhew. Food will be available from El Gato Grande and Offshore Ale, among other vendors.
On Monday, August 15, at 5 p.m., Misty Meadows Equine Learning Center in West Tisbury will host a special conversation between Henry Louis Gates Jr. and author Geraldine Brooks, who will talk about her new novel, Horse. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
On Tuesday, August 16, the Grammy Award-winning South African singers Ladysmith Black Mambazo bring their harmonies and dance moves to the Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m.
Great Ponds Episode 1: On Our Watch, a documentary produced by Circuit Films with Vineyard Conservation Society, has become a “must see” film of summer 2022 on the Vineyard. The film, directed by Ollie Becker, documents the health of the Island’s south shore ponds. Screenings next week are on Wednesday the 17th and Thursday the 18th at the Grange Hall; advance ticket purchases recommended.
Play around with blooms in a flower-arranging class at Slip Away Farm on Chappy next Tuesday, August 16, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Or unwind with flowers and yoga at Slough Farm. This new weekly event on Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. offers an opportunity to pick flowers fresh from the fields and then take a gentle yoga class led by Molly Flam.
If you can’t make this yoga class, there are classes all over the Island (many of them outdoors) all week long.
COMING UP: THE BIG WEEK
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17 | Grand Illumination Night
THURSDAY AUGUST 18 – SUNDAY AUGUST 21 | Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Livestock Show & Fair
FRIDAY, AUGUST 19 | Oak Bluffs Fireworks
Live Music Roundup
Bad Martha’s
4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Black Dog Tavern
5:30 p.m.
Trinity Park Tabernacle
6 p.m.
Featherstone Center for the Arts
6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
St. Andrew’s Church
7 p.m.
The Ritz Cafe
8 p.m. – 10 p.m.
The Wharf
10 p.m.
The Ritz Cafe
10 p.m.
West Tisbury Public Library
3:30 p.m.
Bad Martha’s Brewery
4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Trinity Park Tabernacle
5 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Federated Church
5:30 p.m.
Nomans MV
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
The Ritz Cafe
8 p.m. – 10 p.m.
The Ritz Cafe
10 p.m.
The Wharf
10 p.m.
The Port Hunter
10:15 p.m.
The Cove Golf & Grill
3 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Nomans MV
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Owen Park
7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
The Ritz Cafe
8 p.m. – 10 p.m.
The Loft
8 p.m.
The Ritz Cafe
10 p.m.
What to cook this weekend?
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