CAPE MAY – Sea glass collectors and aficionados from throughout North America will gather in Cape May, New Jersey this fall to share their treasures from the sea and learn more about this increasingly popular pastime. The 9th annual North American Sea Glass Festival will be held September 27-28 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Cape May Convention Hall, 714 Beach Avenue in beautiful Cape May. Admission is $5 daily at the door, and the public is invited.
At the festival, members of the North American Sea Glass Association will display stunning, unique and rare sea glass. In addition, nearly 50 exhibitors will showcase and sell their wares, including jewelry, stained glass, books and photographs. A Collectors’ Exhibition will enable collectors to display their personal sea glass collections. About 4,000 people are expected to attend the festival.
New to this year’s festival at 1 p.m. on Saturday will be the Open Sea Glass Education Forum, “The Mystery and History of Genuine Sea Glass,” an interactive general question and answer discussion featuring several experts from the North American Sea Glass Association. Attendees will be given an opportunity to ask questions about any aspect of collecting and identifying sea glass.
Highlight of the festival will be on Sunday during the Shard of the Year awards, in which expert judges determine the winners of cash prizes for the top sea glass shards in a number of categories, including buttons, figures, art glass, marbles, historical, most unusual, pottery/ceramics, bottle stoppers, and whimsical toys. A grand prize of $1,000 is awarded for the Shard of the Year.
In addition to the exhibits, two presentations will be held on Saturday. At 11 a.m., Margaret Buchholz, co-author of Great Storms of the Jersey Shore, will discuss “Shipwrecks of New Jersey,” a 350-year voyage through New Jersey’s “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” At 3 p.m., Danielle Perrault, Executive Director of The Sea Glass Center, Inc., a nonprofit organization that preserves and presents the historical, artistic and cultural significance of sea glass, will review the history of sea glass and the educational aspects of The Sea Glass Center and the Traveling Sea Glass Museum.
A portion of the proceeds from the festival will be donated to two New Jersey non-profits: Clean Ocean Action and the Wetlands Institute.
Festival-goers will enjoy a 30% discount on roundtrip ferry passage from Lewes on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry from September 25-30. Discount tickets must be purchased in advance by calling 1-800-643-3779 and mentioning code SG14G.
The North American Sea Glass Association is a non-profit organization that has established a community of collectors and sellers of sea glass who are educated on the characteristics and significance of genuine sea glass. The association has 75 commercial members and 3,300 followers throughout North America.
For more information, go to www.seaglassassociation.org.
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