But for the temperatures outdoors it could have been August last weekend in Edgartown. Or July. There was a parade, after all, and crowds of happy people lined the streets, clutching children, tugging dogs on leashes and cheering on the procession of fire trucks, antique cars, dancers from Rise Studio, Scouts of every rank — and of course the big guy in the red suit who comes around every year at this time. This was the Christmas in Edgartown weekend, and never mind that it was winter-frigid — the kind of cold where you could see your breath — the colorful parkas, ear muffs, mittens and scarves only added to the ambiance.

And it was not just a parade. There was an outdoor chowder contest that raised money for the Red Stocking Fund. Two concerts by the elite high school Minnesingers filled the majestic Old Whaling Church to the rafters with the sound of choral voices. There was a grand lighting of a wreath atop the Edgartown Lighthouse, the bleached white tower that stands watch over the outer harbor. It was a weekend filled with holiday cheer, most of it the old-fashioned, non commercial kind. No doubt that’s why the ferries were full on Friday with mainlanders headed to the Vineyard.

Sponsored by the Edgartown Board of Trade, the event that falls annually around the second weekend in December has earned its rightful place as a destination weekend among other similar traditions, like the Nantucket Christmas Stroll.

The event has a long history, some of it up and down. Begun in the 1979 as a way to attract business to town in the off-season, the weekend flourished for many years and inspired other similar events. Tisbury added its own themed weekend with a Twelve Days of Christmas celebration, and for a time the Island basked in the twinkling lights of its holiday celebrations. “Christmas on the Vineyard is getting bigger every year,” the Gazette reported in 1986. “[In Edgartown] it takes a Christmas tree committee, five workers and two weeks to make sure every tree targeted for lights is decorated . . . Next year, if they want to decorate Upper Main street, they’re going to need another electric meter. The circuits are already loaded to capacity.”

Then in the 1990s the celebrations began to fade — changing mores and lack of energy in the business community were partly to blame. About six years ago it looked like Christmas in Edgartown might go the way of the heath hen, but then the tide shifted again, thanks largely to a crop of new young business leaders in town.

They include Elizabeth Rothwell, regional director of marketing for Scout Hotels, Sydney Mullen, board of trade president and manager of the Chappaquiddick Beach Club, Julia Celeste of Rosewater, Tilma Zyla from the Edgartown National Bank, and Erin Ready of Edgartown Meat and Fish.

Ms. Rothwell reported the Harbor View Hotel was sold out all weekend. The hotel, among other things hosts the lighting of the lighthouse and the popular Teddy Bear Suite, a fundraiser for the Martha’s Vineyard Boys and Girls Club.

Ms. Mullen said the weekend was a huge success by any measure.

“Town was like summer, and that’s the goal and one of the main purposes of the board of trade — to extend the season,” she told the Gazette this week. “There are so many businesses in town that see the benefit of staying open or reopening for this weekend. It’s beneficial all around. The stores have a great weekend and maybe clear out their inventory, but there is also a charity aspect to it. The Teddy Bear Suite alone I think raised $20,000.”

Ms. Rothwell, Ms. Mullen and others have brought energy and a youthful sophistication to the entire weekend, which now attracts sizable crowds from the mainland, precisely at the time of year when such crowds are welcome, going back to the idea that started it all.

And it’s not even so much for the shopping, as one young mother who lives and works in Edgartown observed after the weekend. “There was plenty of spirit — everyone had the Christmas spirit,” she said.