Oak Bluffs illuminated

The gingerbread cottages of Oak Bluffs were dark last night, despite the scores of paper lanterns hanging from awnings and around the porches. There would be no lights until right around 9 p.m., when a single lantern was lit and carried through the main aisle of the Tabernacle to signal the start of The Grand Illumination, an annual celebration dating back to 1869. Hanging that first lantern started a domino effect around the Martha's Vineyard Camp Ground and, within seconds, hundreds of Chinese and Japanese paper lanterns began to glow all around the neighborhood.

When it began 140 years ago, Illumination Night was allegedly little more than a publicity stunt to attract potential buyers to the cozy community; now, it's a full-fledged festival, with neighbors cheerfully competing against each other to cook up the most eye-catching presentation. Some display lanterns with a long history, decorations that have seen many an Illumination Night. Others use bright new lights. Some mix it up, combining the vintage and the modern.

The heavy emphasis on Asian art is a reflection of the time in which the Illumination originated. In the 1880s, the West was just beginning to embrace all things Oriental, and Erastus Carpenter, the builder who helped establish Oak Bluffs, considered Japanese and Chinese lanterns to be the essence of chic. Looking at the delicately painted paper globes featuring geishas, charging horses, spectacular dragons and smiling suns, you can see some things never go out of style.

The crowds flocking to Illumination Night begin their evening at the Tabernacle, where a band plays a mix of familiar tunes (ranging from "Stars and Stripes Forever" to a "Wizard of Oz" medley and the theme from "The Phantom of the Opera"). A Community Sing is held. And then one Camp Ground resident -- it's supposed to be a big surprise, but one of my friends said the identity of the honoree always leaks out before the ceremony "because we have nothing better to do than gossip about things like that," she explained -- is picked to light the first lantern, which will signal to everyone else in the neighborhood that it's time to brighten up the night.

The decorating is done hours before the event begins, since many of the lanterns are antiques that can't stand much exposure to heat or wind. In earlier times, the lanterns included candles; most of them are now equipped with electric bulbs, although there are still a few hold-outs.

Strolling around the Camp Ground is like Halloween in reverse. It's the homeowners who are likely to be in costume, as some choose to dress in the fashions of the 19th century, or deck themselves out in their best summer attire. Some serve punch, cake or ice cream to visitors, but many simply lounge on their porches, greeting passersby and basking in the glow of a magnificent tradition.