Illumination night. —MV Times 
Illumination night. —MV Times 
The Verbaro/Medeiros clan, visiting from New Bedford, on the porch of their rented cottage “Lavender and Lace.” . —MV Times 
“Alice’s Wonderland” was decorated in the spirit of its name. . —MV Times 
The tabernacle glowed with colorful stained glass and lanterns. —MV Times
The 155th Grand Illumination Night is Wednesday, August 19, in the Oak Bluffs Campgrounds.
This year, the celebration begins at about 7 pm, with crowds gathering at the Tabernacle for a Community Sing and a performance by the Vineyard Haven Town Band (come early if you want seating — people start claiming seats around 5 pm).
At about 8 pm, the lights go dark. The first paper lantern is lit onstage and then carried down the aisle, initiating a domino-effect of thousands of lanterns around the Tabernacle and about 300 cottages around the Campgrounds. For the next several hours, 10,000 or more visitors will stroll the grounds, admiring the lanterns.
The M.V. Camp Meeting Association website shares this about the origin of the event: “The first Illumination Night, on Saturday, August 14, 1869, was sponsored by the Oak Bluffs Land and Wharf Company. … The initial festivity was called Governor’s Day in honor of Gov. William Claflin, who was on hand for the festivities. Over the ensuing years, the Seaside Gazette referred to the annual event as the “Illumination,” and the identification remains to this day. It is not known when the festivities moved exclusively to the Camp Meeting Grounds, but it was well over 130 years ago. Today, cottage owners continue to decorate with paper lanterns, interspersed with large paper and fabric umbrellas of similar style, on one magical evening in August. The MVCMA puts on a special musical program; and after dusk, all of the lanterns are lit at once! It is a much-anticipated event, attended by thousands each year.”
Grand Illumination Night is Wednesday, August 19, in the Oak Bluffs Campgrounds, 7 to 11 pm. Admission is free, although free-will donations to the M.V. Camp Meeting Association are welcome. For more information about the evening, go to mvcma.org/grand-illumination.
