Summer music rolls on with the Martha’s Vineyard Sound Festival, coming up Sunday, August 15, from 12 to 10 pm, behind the Cove mini-golf at 386 State Road in Vineyard Haven. This year’s lineup brings the very best in local music to the stage — Mike Benjamin, the Phil daRosa Band, Dukes County Love Affair, Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish, Rose Guerin, Ben Taylor with David Saw, the Dukes of Circuit Ave., the Dock Dance Band, and Brothers McMahon. Fifty percent of the proceeds from the festival will go to the Island Housing Trust, an organization that provides affordable housing for Island residents. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased in advance at the Cove, DaRosa’s, Little House Cafe, Mad Martha’s, Tangerine, and the Ritz Cafe, and online at eventbrite.
In the past, the festival has been held at various venues, including Dennis Alley Park in Oak Bluffs. The new location behind the Cove will include food trucks and a beer truck. Parking is available at Shirley’s Hardware and at Cronig’s Market, both closed on Sundays.
“It’s on a Sunday because most locals have the day off,” daRosa explained. “Another reason we did it on Sunday is that everyone is gigging on the weekends, but not as many are playing on a Sunday night.”
Planning began a few months ago, daRosa said, and he had help this year from Brook Katzen, owner of Mad Martha’s, Little House Cafe, and the Cove. “We teamed up to get it done,” daRosa said.
Along with Katzen and his businesses, M.V. Sound Festival sponsors include Dos Mas, Tangerine, El Gato Grande, the Green Room, the Ritz Cafe, Wash Ashore Beer Co., and Island Outfitters.
For more information, check out the website at mvsoundfest.com.
