Illumination Night. Campground. Oak Bluffs, Mass. By Paul Goldfinger. 2020 re-post. Click for take out. Blogfinger.net.
The Martha’s Vineyard Campground in Oak Bluffs was established by Methodists in 1860.
They have gingerbread cottages, a museum, an iron Tabernacle, and are on the National Historic Register.
Illumination Night occurs once each summer. The oriental motif is part of their traditions. Their Illumination Night is the mother of all such events.
Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard. Photo by the Martha’s Vineyard CMA.
This is how the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association describes itself:
“The Tabernacle continues to exist as a “Beacon to All” and continues to serve as a religious and cultural center for the residents of the Campground, Oak Bluffs and the Island itself. It is the largest venue on the Vineyard and, with its marvelous acoustics and beautiful setting, local groups, musical groups, individual performers, theater groups, choruses and even the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra find enthusiastic audiences. The MVCMA offers a wide variety of cultural and religious programs throughout the summer season (July and August.)”
Oak Bluffs campground. Internet photo.
In 2014, Ocean Grove resurrected its own Illumination Night, a festive event that used to happen on Wesley Lake each summer, about a century ago, with large crowds, lights, and many boats.
The OGCMA’s latest edition of Illumination Night is held in Auditorium Square Park, but it’s not clear if this will be a religious event or a celebration for everyone.
Sometimes they seem to confuse the two, as occurred during the Fountain dedication last summer.
Illumination Night is the sort of event that could bring “community” back into the OG vocabulary. But what does the CMA mean by “community?”
Unfortunately, their idea of “community” seems to be religious tourists and those who live in town and are active in the CMA.
When “push comes to shove,” they show little interest in the growing secular community made up of tourists, second homers, retirees, OG under-ground, and year-rounders. Just witness their behavior during the parking sticker clash.
See David Fox’s latest review of Oak Bluffs. in the comments below.
JEWEL From her album Lullaby
David Fox. (OG historian). comment August 14, 2023.
The OG version of this event is based on the more famous one at Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard. This is sponsored by the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association. For a time, the crowd of onlookers became overwhelming and the date of the event was kept secret.
‘The first Illumination Night, on Saturday, August 14th, 1869, was sponsored by the Oak Bluffs Land and Wharf Company. The Seaside Gazette reported, “The illumination and fireworks at ‘Oak Bluffs’, on Saturday evening last, was a very fine affair. Chinese and Japanese lanterns were displayed in abundance, suspended from cottages and trees. There was a good variety in the pieces at the fireworks. The Foxboro Brass Band, brought here by the liberality of E.P. Carpenter, Esq., of Foxboro, discoursed fine music for the occasion. Several thousands of people of both sexes were out to see and hear.”
The initial festivity was called Governor’s Day in honor of Governor 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.’
Illumination Night seems to have been borrowed from Oak Bluffs in recent years and no mention of it appears in the local historical newspapers. It is certainly an attractive custom.
Lets: Thank you for kindly giving me a job, but if you want to set up a new holiday in the Grove, go for it, and we will announce it on Blogfinger.
Been trying to get folks to do this in OG. Paul set a date and go for it. With the power of the Blogfinger, we can do it. Lanterns can be bought inexpensively in many places including dollar stores.