Travel advisoryStorm Warning on the ferry waters until Sun 10 AM · Steamship Authority travel advisory · High Wind Warning for Martha's Vineyard until Sun 8 AM · Coastal Flood Warning for Martha's Vineyard until Sun 8 PMThe Steamship Authority is continuing to monitor the forecast for the upcoming nor'easter that is expected to have significant effects for Cape Cod and the Islands through Sunday. We are waiving change and cancellation fees for travel scheduled for through Sunday, September 27.Steamship Authority · checked 1:45 PM ET
HomeTrip Planning GuidesWhen to VisitColumbus Day Weekend on Martha's Vineyard: The Last Call for the Seasonal Island, What Closes Monday and What Gets Better (2026–2027)
West Tisbury · Cedar Tree NeckPhoto by MV Vacation
The stony shore at Cedar Tree Neck in West Tisbury, the sky going soft over the Sound. The sanctuary is free, open every day, and its beetlebungs turn scarlet before anything else on the island.
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.
Columbus Day weekend, which the island also keeps as Indigenous Peoples’ Day and which falls on October 10 to 12 in 2026 and October 9 to 11 in 2027, is the second curtain of the Vineyard year. Labor Day was the first: the lifeguards left and the crowds went. This one is the last call for the seasonal island. The Island Queen and the Seastreak make their final runs on the Monday, the Trustees’ gatehouses come down, the Flying Horses usually stop the same weekend, and the Menemsha fish markets and the Aquinnah cliff shops reach the end of their May-to-October runs. And yet the weekend itself is one of the best of the year: the Derby is a week from its finish and the weigh-ins are at full pitch, the makers’ market fills the Grange Hall, the color is starting, the Sunday concert in Ocean Park plays its last set, and the rooms cost half what they did in August. Here is the weekend in order, what closes on the Monday, and how to use the three days before the island folds the summer away.
Both make their final runs of the year on October 12. The Steamship keeps four boats a day into Oak Bluffs until October 22, then goes to Vineyard Haven only for the winter. A car crossing is a flat $127 any day now; the weekend premium ended September 15.
The Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby runs to October 17, with free weigh-ins at the end of Dock Street in Edgartown from 8 to 10 in the morning and 7 to 9 at night. Columbus Day weekend is the last weekend of the scales.
The Ashley Inn in Edgartown is at $305 to $375 a night mid-month; the Winnetu takes 35 percent off its suites through October 18. Many inns close between now and Thanksgiving without saying which night; book direct and ask.
About seven hours of sun a day, the water still swimmable for the brave, and the foliage just beginning; the peak comes two or three weeks later, in the first half of November.
Saturday and Sunday: the makers, the scales and the last concert
Know Before You Go
What is on
THE ARTISANS FALL FESTIVAL
Saturday and Sunday, October 10 and 11, 10 AM to 4 PM at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury, its 24th year: the autumn market of island makers in the 1859 hall, with the color coming in on State Road outside. Free.
THE WEIGH-INS
Dock Street in Edgartown, twice a day, all weekend. The evening session, with the trucks backing up to the scales by the Chappy ferry slip, is the best free spectacle of the island’s autumn. You do not need a rod.
THE LAST SUNDAY IN THE PARK
Oak Bluffs’ free Sunday concerts in Ocean Park run from late May through Columbus Day weekend, 5 to 7 PM in October. The Sunday of this weekend is the season’s closing set at the bandstand.
THE FARMS
Morning Glory Farm’s Pumpkin Festival is the following Saturday, October 17, and the Ag Hall’s Harvest Festival October 24, but the stands are at their fullest now: winter squash, the last tomatoes, cider. Our farm-stand trail lists them by town.
THE UP-ISLAND LAST CALL
Larsen’s and the Bite in Menemsha, and the Wampanoag-owned shops at Aquinnah Circle, reach the end of their runs around this weekend. Eat the last lobster on the Menemsha dock, watch the sunset (about 6 PM now), and buy the wampum before the shutters go up.
West Tisbury · the Grange HallPhoto by MV Vacation
Inside the 1859 Grange Hall in West Tisbury, photographed on a dance night. On Columbus Day weekend this floor holds the Vineyard Artisans Fall Festival, the last big makers’ market of the year.
Monday: what closes on October 12
Monday is the day to be on the island rather than leaving it, because the leaving is easy now (walk-ons never book, and the Steamship has room on every boat) and the closing is worth watching. The Island Queen from Falmouth and the Seastreak from New Bedford tie up for the last time. The Trustees’ gatehouses at Mytoi and Cape Poge on Chappaquiddick are staffed through the day and then come down, which means Mytoi goes free from November and the Cape Poge tours stop. The Polly Hill Arboretum visitor center closes for the season; the grounds stay open sunrise to sunset all winter. The Flying Horses usually turn for the last time this weekend. The Chappy ferry goes onto its winter timetable on the 18th, the Steamship’s Oak Bluffs landings end on the 22nd, and on the 23rd every boat lands at Vineyard Haven. Our fall guide lays out both curtains, Labor Day and this one, with everything that closes on each, and the after-Labor-Day guide has the ferry table.
Chappaquiddick · MytoiPhoto by MV Vacation
The bridge and pond at Mytoi on Chappaquiddick as the color comes in. The Trustees’ gatehouse is staffed through Columbus Day; from November the garden is free and, in the island’s late autumn, at its best.
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What stays open, and gets better
Know Before You Go
The island after the curtain
THE BEACHES
Every beach is open and free, including Lambert’s Cove and Lucy Vincent, resident-only all summer and open to everyone since mid-September. Dogs are back on most of them; a few town bans run to this weekend. The beach guide has the dates.
THE TRAILS
Cedar Tree Neck, Menemsha Hills, Middle Road in Chilmark for the maples and the stone walls, Felix Neck for the marsh and the migration, the state forest for miles of oak. The hiking guide maps them; the TrailsMV app works offline.
THE TABLES
The harbor towns keep their year-round core, and the seasonal places that stay past this weekend close in waves through October. Book the dinner you care about for the Saturday; by Tuesday some of the choices are gone.
THE BUS
Fare-free through June 30, 2027 and running all year on a reduced timetable. Route 1 between Edgartown and Vineyard Haven keeps its half-hourly service; the up-island routes thin out.
THE LIGHT
Sunset at about 6 PM this weekend and 4:40 three weeks later, when the clocks change on November 1. Plan the Menemsha sunset for the Saturday and the harbor walks for the afternoons.
Aquinnah · the CirclePhoto by MV Vacation
The Gay Head Light over the shops at Aquinnah Circle in low autumn sun. The Wampanoag family-owned shops here run roughly Memorial Day to Columbus Day and close around 5 PM; this is the weekend to buy the wampum.
Our honest advice
Come Friday, leave Tuesday. Saturday is the Grange Hall and the evening weigh-in; Sunday is up-island, Menemsha for the last dock lobster and the sunset, with the last Ocean Park concert if you are back in time; Monday is Chappaquiddick and Mytoi while the gatehouse is still up, and the Flying Horses for the last ride of the year if it is turning. Tuesday morning the island is in its October shape, and the boat to Woods Hole is half empty. If you want the seasonal island at full strength, the two weeks after Labor Day are still the better trip; our September guide and best-time guide make that case. If you want the island as it turns, with the color beginning and the scales still running, this is the weekend, and the October guide and winter guide cover what comes after.
Is Martha’s Vineyard open on Columbus Day weekend?
Yes, and it is the last weekend the seasonal island is fully open. The Island Queen and Seastreak ferries, the Trustees’ gatehouses on Chappaquiddick and the Polly Hill visitor center all take their last day on the Monday, October 12, 2026, and the Flying Horses usually stop the same weekend. The Steamship Authority, the bus, the beaches and the year-round restaurants carry on.
What events are on over Columbus Day weekend?
The Vineyard Artisans Fall Festival at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury on the Saturday and Sunday, the Derby weigh-ins on Dock Street in Edgartown twice a day (the Derby runs to October 17), and the last Sunday concert of the season in Ocean Park, Oak Bluffs.
Is there fall foliage on Martha’s Vineyard in mid-October?
It is beginning. The ocean keeps the island warm, so the color runs two to three weeks behind mainland Massachusetts and peaks from late October into early November. Cedar Tree Neck, Middle Road in Chilmark and Felix Neck show it first.
Can I still get to Oak Bluffs by ferry after Columbus Day?
Only on the Steamship Authority, four round trips a day from Woods Hole through October 22. From October 23 every boat lands at Vineyard Haven. The Island Queen and Seastreak stop on October 12.
How much cheaper is the island in October?
Hotels run 40 to 60 percent below August: the Ashley Inn is $305 to $375 a night mid-month against $525 to $625 in peak, and the Winnetu takes 35 percent off through October 18. A car on the ferry is a flat $127 each way with no weekend premium.
How we checked this
Ferry last-run and switch dates are the operators’ published 2026 schedules; the gatehouse, arboretum and carousel seasons are from the Trustees, Polly Hill and the Preservation Trust; event dates are the Vineyard Artisans’, the Derby committee’s and the Oak Bluffs concert series’ 2026 postings; hotel rates are the properties’ published 2026 rate cards; weather and water figures are from our October guide’s NOAA-based table. The 2027 dates are the calendar; check our events calendar for the 2027 postings in spring.
Island tip of the dayTransportNo. 11 of 86New tip at midnight, island time
Uber and Lyft operate on MV but surge hard in peak season. Local taxis are often steadier: a typical cross-town ride runs about $28, van-pool style, and airport pickups add a small rideshare surcharge.
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Disclaimer: The information in this article is provided for general guidance only and was accurate at the time of writing. Beach conditions, hours, prices, lifeguard schedules, ferry fares, and business operations change frequently and without notice. Ocean swimming carries inherent risks including rip currents, undertow, and cold water shock. Always verify current conditions with official local sources before your visit. MV Vacation assumes no responsibility for any loss, injury, or inconvenience resulting from the use of this information. Swim only where lifeguards are on duty, supervise children at all times near water, and follow all posted safety signs.
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