Sea Glass Festivals
Collecting sea glass is a low-cost, ecofriendly, recreational pursuit with a devoted worldwide following. Some collectors enjoy the hunt for the small glass pieces worn smooth by waves and currents, others are intrigued by the history of sea glass scraps, and still others use the shards to make jewelry and decorative items. A variety of historical organizations, collectors groups and professional artists have launched a string of annual sea glass festivals that offer lectures, workshops and an opportunity to exhibit collections and buy and sell artwork.
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North American Sea Glass Association Festival
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The North American Sea Glass Association holds its annual festival in October in a different coastal city each year. Founded in 2007 by a group of committed collectors who set standards for sea glass and establish a code of ethics for the collectibles market, NASGA is the leading sea glass organization in the United States.The two-day festival features talks by sea glass experts on where to find shards, and how to identify and date pieces. Dozens of artists and glass dealers also exhibit their work and products.The festival is open to the public, but only members can enter the "Shard of the Year" contest with a top prize of $1,000 for the winner in the category, "Overall Beauty."
Mermaid Tears Sea Glass Festival
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The Mermaid Tears Sea Glass Festival is held mid-summer at Wood Islands, a small community on the southern shore of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. Festival committee volunteers team up with with the Wood Islands Lighthouse Museum to organize and plan the two-day event. The Mermaid Tears Festival features an opening night dinner, a special lecture and a moonlight walk on the beach. The main event, an all-day fair featuring sea glass artists and dealers, demonstrations and workshops, takes place the following day under a tent next to the Wood Islands Lighthouse overlooking the Northumberland Strait. A number of children's events such as a sea glass hunt and a sand sculpture contest have been added to the schedule of events.
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Fort Bragg Sea Glass Festival
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The Fort Bragg Sea Glass Festival is a two-day event held in the early summer at the city's Sea Glass Museum. An international crowd of sea glass collectors comes to buy, sell and trade glass and swap stories and information about collecting and crafting techniques. The Fort Bragg festival also draws sea glass enthusiasts who come to visit Glass Beach, a one-of-a-kind shoreline where the sand is covered with shards of smooth multicolored glass. During the '50s and '60s, Fort Bragg residents dumped their trash into the ocean. Over time, waves drove the weathered shards of glass back onshore and created Glass Beach, which is now part of MacKerricher State Park.
Mid-Atlantic Sea Glass & Coastal Arts Festival.
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In late June, thousands of East Coast sea glass collectors flock to Lewes, a small city on the southern Delaware coast, for the Mid-Atlantic Sea Glass & Coastal Arts Festival. Sponsored by the Lewes Historical Society, the two-day festival features a series of speakers on different sea glass topics such as how to identify and date different types of shards. More than 30 sea glass artists and dealers exhibit their works and products. Painters, photographers and other marine artists, including carvers who specialize in decoys, also display their work at this event.
Santa Cruz Sea Glass and Ocean Arts Festival
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Santa Cruz Sea Glass Company sponsors the annual Santa Cruz Sea Glass and Ocean Arts Festival held at the Coconut Grove community center in the fall. The festival showcases sea glass artists and photographers as well as marine painters and other artisans who use sea-related materials in their work. The festival also features educational exhibits on marine sanctuaries and conservation efforts on the California coast. Collectors who attend are welcome to enter the festival's prize piece contest with cash awards in different categories.
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