On opening day of the 156th annual Agricultural Fair, a small crowd gathered before the ticketers had arrived.

The queue began forming at 6:30 a.m. Sunday for the annual Chicken Alley Thrift Shop Art and Collectibles Sale. By most accounts, the sale this year did not disappoint.

More than 500 people came to see the opening of Big, the inaugural show of pieces by nearly 70 Vineyard artists at the newly opened Art Barn.

Featherstone’s new Art Barn opens Friday with a ribbon cutting and an opening reception for Big. The exhibit features large-scale works from more than 50 Island artists.

On Saturday they jammed the Harbor View Hotel. On Sunday they donned sun hats and trooped up to the Chilmark Community Center. Book lovers were very much in evidence at the seventh Martha’s Vineyard Book Festival.

After a one-year hiatus, Kate Taylor will return to play her annual Vineyard show this summer.