The Jewish Culture Festival will be returning this summer to the same West Tisbury property as last year after briefly entertaining other locations due to town-imposed attendance limits.
Chabad on the Vineyard, which has run the event annually since 2023, announced last week that the festival would be held at the West Tisbury home of Deborah and David Reed on August 5.
Chabad was approved by the select board in January to hold the event at the Edgartown-West Tisbury property. The board capped attendance at 300 people, a limit that remains in place.
“The event permit we granted is still in place,” West Tisbury town administrator Jen Rand said Thursday.
The restriction came after the festival had more attendees than allowed at last year’s festival. Though Chabad on the Vineyard requested the select board to reconsider the cap — hoping to host 800 people — the board was steadfast, voting in February to keep its prior approval intact.
With those limitations, Chabad turned to other potential venues, but also ran into snags. In April, Rabbi Tzvi Alperowitz went to the Chilmark select board seeking permission to have attendees park on town-owned land for an event that was going to be held at a private property on Point Inner Way.
Chilmark board members voiced their displeasure with the proposal.
“The objection seems to be that this town area has not been used for parking for anything and is designated open space,” select board member James Malkin said at the time.
In the announcement about the festival’s location, Rabbi Alperowitz asked that people register for tickets ahead of time.
“Tickets are limited this year, and we expect to sell out quickly,” he wrote.
Comedian Elon Gold will headline the festival, which will also include music, food, art and wine.