Popular searches:
Garland, red ornaments and lights wound around the porch posts on Edgartown’s Main Street in December 2025.
Martha's Vineyard in December 2026: First Friday on December 4, Light Up Oak Bluffs on December 5, Christmas in Edgartown December 10 to 13, 4:15 sunsets, one ferry into Vineyard Haven, and what stays open through Christmas.
December is the month the island decorates. The summer crowd is long gone, sunset comes at about 4:15, and the one ferry runs into Vineyard Haven every day, but three weekends in a row each town takes its turn: Vineyard Haven’s holiday First Friday, Light Up Oak Bluffs the next day, and Christmas in Edgartown the weekend after. In between, the harbor towns keep a core of restaurants and hotels open, the beaches are empty, and the lights are up from the Chappy ferry to Circuit Avenue. Below is what December on Martha’s Vineyard looks like in 2026, what is on, what stays open, and how to get here.
Table of contents [Show]
Friday, December 4: First Friday in Vineyard Haven. The sixth and last First Friday of 2026. In 2024 the December edition opened the town’s ’Tis the Season weekend, with music, crafts and a tree lighting at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, then a holiday street party on Main Street. The 2026 program isn’t posted yet; the First Friday site puts it up closer to the date.
Saturday, December 5: Light Up Oak Bluffs. The Oak Bluffs Association has posted the date, not Thanksgiving weekend this year. Times and the program aren’t up yet. In past years it was the town’s tree lighting at Healey Square and Ocean Park, with an afternoon of activities first.
Thursday to Sunday, December 10 to 13: Christmas in Edgartown. The 45th edition. What’s posted so far:
The Edgartown Board of Trade keeps adding to the schedule through the fall. Our Christmas in Edgartown guide plans the whole weekend, including where to stay when the village fills up.
The wharf tree, built from stacked lobster traps and hung with buoys and lights.
Between the big weekends there’s a steady run of smaller evenings, most of them free or close to it:
The church holiday fairs and the island’s choral concerts usually fill in later in the fall, and our events calendar adds them as the organizers post.
Before you book
What Martha’s Vineyard really costs, free
Ferry fares by the day of the week, the room tax every town charges and four whole trips added up. Free with the island letter, together with our Beach, Fall and Where to Stay guides.
One-click unsubscribe, and we never share your email.
Edgartown’s Main and North Water Streets, the Oak Bluffs gazebo and Circuit Avenue, the Martha’s Vineyard Museum in Vineyard Haven, and the Chappy ferry with a string of bulbs on the wheelhouse. A slow evening drive through all three towns takes about ninety minutes and costs nothing, and since December is the wettest month, a warm car and a coffee make it easier. Our Christmas lights gallery has more than thirty of them.
Circuit Avenue on a December afternoon in 2025: lights wound around the lamp posts and the young trees, and the street nearly empty.
Snow over Edgartown Harbor from the Chappy Ferry ramp, with holiday lights on the wharf.
On Christmas Day almost everything closes, including the year-round bars; Offshore Ale tapes a sign to the door. A hotel with a restaurant, such as the Harbor View in Edgartown or the Mansion House in Vineyard Haven, or a rental with a stocked kitchen covers the day. The Steamship Authority’s reservation office is closed on Christmas and on New Year’s Day, so a car booking is easier sorted out beforehand.
The week between the holidays is quiet, and the walks are at their best: Lucy Vincent and Squibnocket with nobody at the gate, the Land Bank trails with the leaves down, and the Gay Head Lighthouse catching the last sun before 4:15. For the last night of the year, our New Year’s Eve guide has the dinners, the Ritz and the family evening at the Playhouse, going by the 2025 pattern until the 2026 listings post.
The Gay Head Lighthouse catching the last sun on a December afternoon in 2025.
Vineyard Haven is the easiest base, since the boat comes in there every day and Main Street is a short walk from the terminal. The Mansion House is open all year, with off-season rates from $117 a night, and the Vineyard Harbor Motel on Beach Road stays open year-round too. In Edgartown, the Harbor View stays open through the holidays and the Ashley Inn publishes winter rates of $195 to $225 a night. For the Christmas in Edgartown weekend, rooms in the village go first, so booking early helps. Our where-to-stay guide has the rest.
People who like a town lit up for the holidays, holiday shoppers who want island-made gifts, walkers who don’t mind a cold wind, and families with a reason to come back. It’s not the month for swimming or for a first look at the island in full swing, and up-island most places are shut. Two or three nights around one of the three weekends works well, based in Edgartown or Vineyard Haven so dinner is a walk. Our Thanksgiving to March guide covers the whole winter, and the year-round list has what stays open, town by town.
Step 1 · WhenMonth PickerTwelve months compared on NOAA numbers, crowds, prices and what is open. 
Step 2 · DaysDay-by-Day Trip PlannerMorning, afternoon and evening sketched for every day, events dropped in, emailed to you. 
Step 3 · CostTrip Cost CalculatorFerry, beds with the rooms tax, meals, getting around and activities in one price range. Our own footage from the island’s off-season.
For the holiday weekends, quiet walks and low prices, yes. Highs are around 46, sunset is about 4:15, and many seasonal places are closed, but the harbor towns keep a core of restaurants and hotels open and the three town celebrations fill the first half of the month.
Thursday to Sunday, December 10 to 13. The lighthouse is lit on Friday, December 11 (festivities from 5:30 PM, lights at 6), and the parade is on Saturday, December 12 at 11 AM on Main Street.
The Steamship Authority from Woods Hole is the only ferry, 14 round trips a day to Vineyard Haven, first boat 6:00 AM and last 9:45 PM from Woods Hole. Walk-ons pay $11 and need no reservation; a car is $79 each way and needs one. Cape Air flies from Boston all year.
Very little. Almost every restaurant and bar closes, Offshore Ale included. Hotels with restaurants, like the Harbor View or the Mansion House, are the reliable choice, or a rental with a kitchen.
Ferry times and fares are from the Steamship Authority’s published schedule for October 23, 2026 to January 5, 2027 and its fare page; weather figures are from our month-by-month climate table based on NOAA normals; the Christmas in Edgartown events are from the festival’s own 2026 listing and the Harbor View’s events page; Light Up Oak Bluffs is from the Oak Bluffs Association’s page; the First Friday date is from the First Friday site; the smaller December dates are from the libraries’, the Film Society’s, Circuit Arts’ and Featherstone’s own pages; lodging rates are from the hotels’ own published rates, as listed in our where-to-stay guide. All checked October 13, 2026. Dates and programs that aren’t posted yet are marked as such, and we update the page as they go up.
Island tip of the day Beaches No. 28 of 86 New tip at midnight, island time
OSV access to East Beach (Chappaquiddick) requires a $250/season permit from The Trustees. Purchase online at thetrustees.org, pick up at the Mytoi Gatehouse. Walking or biking in is free.
All six town libraries on Martha's Vineyard, checked October 2026: hours and addresses, how visitors get a library card, free Wi-Fi, the concerts, art shows and programs, the Libraries of Things with beach chairs and stargazing kits, museum and beach parking passes, and a short history of each building.
Cell service on Martha's Vineyard town by town: towers down-island, no tower in Chilmark or Aquinnah and the named dead spots, what each carrier reports to the FCC, free Wi-Fi at all six libraries and on the ferry, the $10 xfinitywifi pass, prepaid plans and 911 when you have no bars.
The twelve things that catch first-timers on Martha's Vineyard, from car reservations and the two ferry terminals to resident-only beaches, the last bus from Aquinnah and cash for the Chappy Ferry, each with an easy fix, plus the fall and winter dates.
EV charging on Martha's Vineyard: about 34 public stations, nearly all Level 2, listed town by town with ports and prices (the Edgartown Park and Ride, town halls, libraries, the airport, the Aquinnah cliffs), two fast-charging ports at the VTA, the Chilmark plans, no Supercharger, the ferry's EV rules, and how to run an electric week on a 20-mile island.
How to get a Steamship Authority car reservation to Martha's Vineyard: the February opening and its virtual waiting room, the residents' head start, the five-reservation limit, the wait list that works, the 2026 fares ($127 midweek, $168 summer weekends), the free first change and the 14-day refund rule, no standby, and why most visitors should leave the car in Falmouth.
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).
The free island library · 2026
Beach reports, events worth a day, ferry heads-ups. Sent when there is something worth telling. The Beach Guide, The Vineyard in the Fall, Where to Stay and What It Really Costs arrive with your welcome email.
Get the free guides Island prices, hours and details change often. Please verify with businesses before you go. Full disclaimer
The island right now
6:24 PM island time
Four free downloads · 2026
The island guides, in your inbox
The Beach Guide, The Vineyard in the Fall, Where to Stay and What It Really Costs. No spam, one-click unsubscribe.
