Every August, it starts with the drums.

As evening settles over Oak Bluffs, the sound carries down the street from Union Chapel, drawing people toward the open doors. Some know exactly where they’re headed. Others are simply curious. They stop, peek inside, and find a crowd gathering beneath the historic chapel’s wooden rafters.

At the front, drummer Scott Hershowitz settles into a steady rhythm. Around him, experienced percussionists, first-time drummers, and audience members find their place in the circle. For roughly fifteen minutes, the beat holds. Children weave through the gathering crowd and the energy builds. Then the dancing begins. 

It’s a ritual that has opened every Built on Stilts dance and performance festival, a celebration of movement held each year over two August weekends. This year, the festival takes place August 6 though 9 and again August 14 through 17. Amid a sea of summer events, it has become a fixture of the Vineyard summer calendar. This year marks its thirtieth anniversary.

The festival was founded by Abby Bender and Anna Luckey, who met as dance majors at Bard College in New York. Both were looking for opportunities to create and perform with friends outside the structure of school, and the Vineyard seemed like the ideal place. Bender spent summers on the Island, and Luckey grew up here.

The first performance was a far cry from the jam-packed two-weekend event we know today. It lasted just one night and featured around ten dancers. Bender and Luckey pieced together the show using their own resources and Island connections.

Time has made hazy some of their recollections, and the founders laugh that they no longer remember exactly how the idea took shape. They do, however, remember the goal. “I remember talking about wanting to perform and wanting to create something,” Luckey recalled. “I think we were already on the Vineyard that summer, and I remember Abby turning to me and going, ‘Let’s just do it.’”

Another thing they remember is that they needed a venue – no easy feat in the busy month of August. Thankfully, the answer was close at hand.

Bender and her cousin Molly Coogan, who now owns Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Vineyard Haven, lived across the street from Union Chapel at the time. They sat on the porch and pointed at the building, wondering if it would be an option. It was. After Bender met with Rich Greene, who served on the chapel’s board of trustees, they rented the space for $300. 

Following that first performance, Bender and Luckey knew they had something special. “It was so warmly received that the next year, we did two performances, and more artists came out of the woodwork that wanted to participate. By the third year, it really became like a festival,” Bender said.

Over time, it evolved into a free-wheeling celebration of movement, singing, and, sometimes, spoken word. It is unlike many other summer events on the Island. To this day, there are no tickets and performances are free. Audience members come and go throughout the evening, filling both floors of Union Chapel and spilling out onto the lawn. 

The lineup changes every night, ensuring that no two festivals look quite the same. A contemporary dance piece choreographed by Bender may be followed by a jazz performance. The Island Hip Hop troupe, led by professional dancer Alise Haigazian, might perform an ode to villainous women. Retirees might don cowboy boots and two-step across the stage. A drag queen might strut her stuff. Classically trained ballerinas might plié. 

All experience levels are welcomed, whether you’ve trained at a conservatory or are creating something for the first time. Creativity seems to be the only real requirement.

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Part of the festival’s staying power might be its refusal to become something else. Over the past thirty years, the Vineyard has become more expensive, busier, and arguably more elite. But at Built on Stilts, the emphasis has always been on expression and participation.

“It’s kind of crazy how similar the template that they created right then is to what it is now,” said Laura Sargent Hall, founder of Kaleidoscope Dance in Vineyard Haven. A participant in that first performance, she has taken part every year since.

The festival’s philosophy of inclusion found another expression in 2003, when Luckey launched a children’s workshop that remains one of the festival’s most popular programs. Young dancers spend several days creating and rehearsing before performing on one of the nights. 

Andy Jacobs, who has danced in the festival since 2010, has helped run the workshop since 2018. “I always get a very full heart when I see kids come back every year and really want to be a part of whatever it is we’re doing,” he said.

Some former workshop participants now perform in the main festival. Other performers, like Luckey, return with children of their own. Though the cofounder left the festival fully in Bender’s hands by the mid-2000s, her daughter Isla participates every summer.

“[Isla] did actual dance classes and stuff as a younger kid, and kind of fell off from it. But she still, every year, is adamant that she wants to do Built on Stilts. It’s a nonnegotiable for her, which I think really speaks to how wonderful the experience and the whole festival is,” Luckey said.

For many participants, Built on Stilts has become a community staple, a date circled on the calendar. 

“It’s summer, and it’s so hectic for everyone, but somehow being in that space and being together for Built on Stilts, it actually takes away the hectic,” Bender said. “We’re surrounded by community, friends old and new, and it feels like there’s something about it that just brings out our best selves.”

Charmian Wells has been a visiting artist for over two decades. She was assistant stage manager for more than ten years and has taught dance across the country. Still, she drifts back to the Island year after year. 

“​​It’s magical because the Vineyard is magical, but it’s magical because of the people,” she said. “The audience is one of a kind. It’s so unique, it’s so special, and it’s so affirming.”

Hershowitz, whose drum circle opens every performance, even has a tattoo inspired by the festival. “If I’m on the Island, there’s no sense that I shouldn’t be there,” he said. “The doors fly open at 7:30 and we start drumming. It’s this energy that is released into the universe that will draw people in. Maybe they’ll come in and drum. Maybe they’ll come in and sit for five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes, an hour. But...the idea is that people hear that and come in, and I love that idea.”

He’s happy to incorporate it into his summer routine, and Bender is grateful he continues to return, calling the drum circle an essential part of the festival.

“It’s key to bringing us together, getting us focused, getting the audience, and drawing passers-by that have no idea what’s going on,” she added.

Bender, for her part, has no plans to stop running Built on Stilts. As long as she is able, she will happily gather the community together every August.

For the thirtieth iteration, she has a few surprises up her sleeve. But mostly, she hopes to continue doing exactly what she’s done every other year: open the doors to creativity and see who comes in. 

“​​I just want [people] to leave feeling opened up to one another,” she said. “It’s a kind space. Some art really does open your mind. And even if it doesn’t and it just entertains you, that’s also completely valid and wonderful. I want people to love it as much as we love doing it.”