Gardening teaches us so many things: patience, resiliency, what to do with a zucchini as big as a canoe. But one of its best lessons is about learning to move with nature, to take care and go slowly when rest is needed, and to reach for the sun when it’s time to grow. All year long, there are delights to be found, and that’s true about life on Martha’s Vineyard as well. On these pages, we’re looking ahead to the best events, happenings, sights, sounds, and flavors around the Island. Make sure to double-check the details before you head out, as things sometimes change at the last minute. The new dates are set for the Agricultural Fair, however, so start growing your prize-winning zucchini now.
What to Do
Some things are always the same at the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society’s annual fair. There are the animals and crafts, the bright lights, and the happy screams. But this year, a few things are changing. After fifty years of serving the fair with rides, games, and concessions, Cushing Amusements has been replaced by Fiesta Shows. Because of that change, the dates will change too. This year, the fair will run one week earlier than usual, from Thursday, August 13, to Sunday, August 16. The dates for the following years will vary too.
Where to Go
If trying to get to the Ag Fair and Grand Illumination Night all in the same week made you feel as dizzy as a ride on the Sizzler, we have good news. Now, these two highlights of the high-season have a little more space in between them. So head to the fair, then take a few days off for deep breathing. Then head back out to the Camp Ground in Oak Bluffs on Wednesday, August 19, at dusk for a dazzling display of colorful paper lanterns hung from the gingerbread cottages’ porches. If you’re brave enough, you can catch the fireworks that Friday.
What to See
What’s the last truly great film you’ve seen? If you’re like us, the movies that often stick with you are the ones that are a bit off the beaten blockbuster path and don’t usually have a number at the end. If you’re ready for a surprise to knock you off your feet, try the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival, which runs from March 25 to 29 and is hosted by Circuit Arts. The films typically screen at a variety of venues, including the Capawock Theatre and the Grange Hall, and are paired with panel discussions.
What's Up
A lot of things are up on the Island: temperatures, the deer population, tick numbers, reported cases of alpha-gal. If you’re seeing a connection, you’re not alone. The folks behind the new Island nonprofit Tick Free MV see the upswing and are hoping to do something about it. One way they plan to buck the trend has to do with bucks – and does. “By reducing the density of deer, you essentially reduce chances for the ticks to reproduce and create new ticks the following year,” Island tick biologist Patrick Roden-Reynolds, a senior advisor to the organization, told the Vineyard Gazette.
What's Down
For years, the Mocha Mott’s location on Main Street in Vineyard Haven served as the first stop for teenagers gathering with friends after school, for locals looking to warm up mid-winter, and for a host of other regulars needing a coffee, a jam bar, and a familiar face. This year, Mocha Mott’s closed that location. The seasonal location in Oak Bluffs will continue serving and Mott’s face will keep grinning.
Numerology
87,000: The record-breaking number of passengers that traveled to the Island via the Martha’s Vineyard Airport last year.
7: The percent increase over the year prior.
44,000: The number of planes that touched down.
Well Said
“It was freedom and independence.”
– Ted Box’s sister, Tiara, used these words to describe what being out on the water did for her brother. Box, a creative multi-hyphenate who delighted Islanders with his Sisyphean endeavor to build a seventy-foot scow, died earlier this year at eighty years old – but not before finally finishing that boat.
What to Read
Award-winning Island Cookbooks
Summer on the Island means tomatoes so beautiful you could cry, fish so fresh it’s basically still swimming, and plenty of other handmade ingredients begging you to take them home. When it’s time to figure out what to do with all that bounty, look no further than the three Vineyard cookbooks that recently took home awards from The Readable Feast, an annual competition that crowns the best cookbooks and food writing in New England. The Sea Table, a cookbook produced by the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust, received awards in both the New England Book of the Year and Self-Published categories. Braided Heritage: Recipes and Stories on the Origin of American Cuisine by Jessica B. Harris – an exploration of our country’s varied food traditions in essays, history, and recipes – won Book of the Year. And a Community Cookbook award was given to Julia Blanter’s The Martha’s Vineyard Cookbook. All three publications feature Island ingredients alongside beautiful photographs and writing. So get that extra tomato and bring home the fish. With these books by your side, you’ll be well-prepared to help the flavors sing.
