Ruthie and Noel Wright, with The Isle of Hope Artisans League, started The Isle of Hope Art Show in year 2000.

Residents and artists joined together for the first show, which took place in front of Noel and the late Ruthie Wright's house on Bluff Drive. Eventually, it expanded to the Isle of Hope Marina & Pavilion.

In 2011, they moved the festival up from its annual November date to coincide with the IOH 275th Anniversary Celebration, which also included a parade, band performances and speeches by political officials.

Re-enactors fired a cannon to signal the start of the parade. Isle of Hope residents and homesick natives descended on the island’s marina and scenic Bluff Drive to celebrate the two-and-three-quarter centuries since three Englishmen were granted plantations on the island. Vendors dotted Bluff Drive, selling everything from barbecue to handmade items. Under the pavilion at the IOH Marina, island artists and artisans displayed their work.

A history compiled by the island’s historical association for the anniversary cites a 1741 letter from Savannah storekeeper Thomas Causton to the colony’s trustees in marking 1736 as the year Noble Jones, John Fallowfield and Henry Parker each were granted 500 acre tracts on the Isle of Hope. Residents consider that year the island’s founding.

Noel Wright, who moved to the Isle of Hope when he was 11, remembers taking a streetcar to Richard Arnold Junior High, and literally married the girl next door, said the anniversary celebration was a welcome chance to catch up with old friends. “Since we grew up out here, we know everybody on the Isle of Hope,” Noel Wright said. “A lot of them have moved away. This is like a family reunion for us.”

Residents drove golf carts — the preferred form of transportation on the island — in the anniversary parade, hung with signs advertising how long their families have lived there.

Today, the festival has expanded to 90 artists and makers stationed from the IOH Marina & Pavilion down Rose Avenue, Bluff Drive and into Paxton Park. Local musicians perform at the festival and food trucks are located throughout. This is a rain or shine event, and admission is free to the public. Proceeds are donated to Isle of Hope Historical Association which is dedicated to collecting and presenting the island’s history, building community spirit, and spearheading the initiative to preserve the historic character of the Bluff.