Cranberry Day Festival

Cranberry Day Festival

Second Tuesday in OctoberWampanoag Indians on Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, celebrate Cranberry Day, their most significant annual holiday, on the second Tuesday in October. The tribe cultivates 200 acres of wild cranberries. In earlier times, this festival lasted several days as people harvested the cranberries and used them in festive dishes. These days, children get the day off from school to join the day's activities, which include picking cranberries, a lunch-time bonfire during which stories of previous Cranberry Days and other community legends are told, and a celebration in the evening with dancing, singing, and a huge potluck meal.
CONTACTS:
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head
20 Black Brook Rd.
Aquinnah, MA 02535
508-645-9265; fax: 508-645-3790
www.wampanoagtribe.net
SOURCES:
EndurHarv-1995, p. 48