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Dates, the lighthouse lighting, the Main Street parade, winter ferries and who is open: a fact-checked local guide to the island's biggest December weekend (Dec 10-13, 2026).
For one long weekend every December, Edgartown decides that the off-season is a rumor. The 45th annual Christmas in Edgartown runs Thursday, December 10 through Sunday, December 13, 2026: the Edgartown Lighthouse is lit on Friday evening, a parade rolls down Main Street on Saturday morning, and the shops, inns and nonprofits fill the weekend with events of their own. It is the island's biggest winter weekend by far, most of it is free, and it is a lovely reason to come to Martha's Vineyard in December.
The Edgartown Board of Trade has now posted the anchor events with times: the lighthouse lighting on Friday, December 11, and on Saturday, December 12 the parade, the Holiday Faire and the 33rd Art and Crafts Festival, which carries on into Sunday. Most of the smaller events, from Sunday's breakfast with Santa to the shop parties, are not posted for 2026 yet; where we describe them, we name the year the details come from. The listing at christmasinedgartown.com grows through the fall, and we update this page as it does.
For Thanksgiving or the weeks after New Year, our Thanksgiving-to-March guide covers the rest of the winter calendar.
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The other fixture worth knowing about is the Teddy Bear Suite, a walk-through holiday room created by Point B Realty that raises money for the Martha's Vineyard Boys and Girls Club; its organizers put the total raised at more than $519,000. It was at the Harbor View Hotel in 2025, the first year entry was ticketed. The organizers say it is heading into its 16th year in 2026; the venue, dates and tickets are not announced yet, so it is worth waiting for them before promising it to the kids.
Filmed December 2025
December travel is simple, apart from the car. The Steamship Authority runs Woods Hole to Vineyard Haven only in winter; the Oak Bluffs terminal closes for the season after October 22. The winter schedule runs 14 departures a day each way, roughly every 75 minutes, first boat 6:00 AM and last boat back to the mainland at 9:30 PM from Vineyard Haven. Walk-on passengers can simply show up. Vehicles need a reservation, and for this weekend it is worth booking as soon as your plans firm up. Full route detail lives in our ferry guide.
In past years Hy-Line has run a special one-day Hyannis cruise for the festival Saturday; nothing is announced for 2026 yet. On the island, the car-free playbook works fine: Edgartown's festival footprint is compact and walkable, off-season parking is easy by summer standards (time limits still enforced), and the Chappy Ferry runs year-round (in winter 6:30 AM to 10 PM, with a late run from 11 to 11:15 PM), which is how Santa arrived in 2025.
Snow over Edgartown Harbor from the Chappy Ferry ramp. In 2025 Santa made this same crossing on the festival's Friday evening.
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Mid-December is when Edgartown's year-round hotels earn their keep, at some of the lowest rates of the year. The Harbor View Hotel stays open through the holidays and leans into the festival weekend. Check rates. The Charlotte Inn is the other year-round anchor: fireside, antiques, deeply quiet. Several smaller in-town inns also take December guests; our where-to-stay guide covers every town and price band. For this weekend, early booking helps: rooms around the festival go first, and minimum stays vary by property, so confirm when booking.
The Harbor View at blue hour in the holiday season: garland on every rail, the Bettini sign lit, the little lighthouse cupola glowing over the porch.
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More survives the off-season in Edgartown than first-timers expect. The Newes from America pours by the fire daily; confirm winter hours before you go. The Square Rigger and Rockfish run through the winter (Rockfish on a shorter winter week, so check which nights), and the Edgartown Diner and The Grill on Main round out the reliable list. Friday and Saturday dinners are worth booking ahead, since every visitor in town has the same three restaurants in mind at the same hour. The full picture, town by town, is in what's open year-round.
A lantern room aglow behind string lights. The real Edgartown Light gets its own lighting on the festival's Friday evening.
Lucky Hank’s sign under the hydrangeas on Upper Main Street, Edgartown. The restaurant now closes for the winter, so it is a summer and fall stop.
Christmas in Edgartown is the island at its most local: the streets that hold summer's crowds belong to the people who live here, and they light them up. Friday at 6 PM near the lighthouse is the moment to aim for.
The wharf tree, built from stacked lobster traps and hung with buoys and lights.
Thursday, December 10 through Sunday, December 13, 2026, the 45th edition. Posted so far: the Edgartown Lighthouse lighting on Friday, December 11 (from 5:30 PM at Memorial Wharf, lights on at 6 sharp), and on Saturday, December 12 the parade at 11 AM on Main Street, the Holiday Faire on the Village Green (10 AM to 3 PM) and the 33rd Art and Crafts Festival at the Edgartown School, which continues Sunday until 4 PM. The rest of the schedule fills in at christmasinedgartown.com through the fall, and this page follows it.
For 2026: the Edgartown Lighthouse lit by the MV Museum at 6 PM on Friday, December 11, and the parade down Main Street at 11 AM on Saturday, December 12, rain or shine, with the Holiday Faire and the Art and Crafts Festival the same day. In 2025 Santa also arrived on the Chappy Ferry on Friday evening, and Sunday brought Breakfast with Santa and the costume dog show; those are not posted for 2026 yet. The Teddy Bear Suite, a fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club, says it is coming back for a 16th year, with the venue not announced yet.
The main events are: the lighthouse lighting, the parade and the Holiday Faire cost nothing to attend. Some extras are ticketed; in 2025 that included the Teddy Bear Suite, the Minnesingers concerts and the Holiday Hustle 5K. The 2026 prices are not posted yet.
The Steamship Authority runs Woods Hole to Vineyard Haven only in winter, about 14 departures a day each way, first boat 6 AM and last boat back at 9:30 PM. Walk-on passengers just show up; vehicle reservations are required and go early for this weekend.
Yes, the year-round core, and Edgartown dresses its shop windows for the weekend. Thursday is the quiet night for a stroll with the lights on and dinner reservations still easy; by Saturday the town is full.
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For groceries: Stop and Shop has two island locations and Cronig's (an island institution since 1917) has stores in Vineyard Haven and West Tisbury. Stock up for picnics and save significantly.
Halloween on Martha's Vineyard 2026, town by town: Edgartown's Happy Haunting on Sunday, October 25, Halloween in Oak Bluffs on Saturday, October 31, the museum's Halloween on the Hill, the library events, haunted Edgartown walks and Circuit Arts' revue at the Grange, plus how the Vineyard Haven puppet parade ran in past years (2026 date not announced yet).
New Year's Eve on Martha's Vineyard: the $150 dinner over the lit harbor, the two-seating table in Edgartown, live music at the Ritz, the family First Night at the Playhouse, where the lights are, what runs on the holiday (the ferry does, the reservation office does not), what is open on New Year's Day, and the empty January that begins the week you leave. 2026–2027 dates.
Columbus Day (Indigenous Peoples' Day) weekend on Martha's Vineyard: the last weekend of the seasonal island. The Artisans Fall Festival at the Grange Hall, the Derby weigh-ins, the last Ocean Park concert, what closes on the Monday (Island Queen, Seastreak, the Chappy gatehouses, the carousel), what stays open, the half-price rooms, and a Friday-to-Tuesday plan.
Labor Day weekend on Martha's Vineyard, hour by hour: the Artisans Festival at the Ag Hall, the jazz weekend in Oak Bluffs, First Friday, the last guarded swim in the year's warmest water, which ferries make their last sailings, how to survive the Monday exodus, and why staying to Tuesday is the best trick. 2026 and 2027 dates.
Memorial Day weekend on Martha's Vineyard, explained: the Friday March to the Sea at Owen Park, the Monday parade in Vineyard Haven, the Artisans Festival at the Grange Hall, the first Island Queen and Gay Head Light climbs, what is still closed, the prices, and a three-day plan for May 29 to 31, 2027.
Martha's Vineyard has two fireworks nights: Edgartown over the harbor at dusk on the Fourth of July and Oak Bluffs off Ocean Park on the third Friday of August (canceled in 2026, back in 2027). Where to stand for each, the street closures and blanket rules, the free bus, the ferry diversion and how to get home.
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