Mid-Atlantic Sea Glass and Coastal Arts Festival

The Lewes Historical Society invites you to the Mid-Atlantic Sea Glass & Ocean Arts Festival on Saturday and Sunday, June 3^rd and 4^th, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

The 2023 Festival will have an expanded venue incorporating the Society’s canal front United States Life Saving Station Boat House (c. 1884). The event will include a lecture series, a children’s educational area, maritime interpreters in historical attire, a selection of beverages at the Sussex Tavern, food, and art vendors as well as a variety of antique glass and sea glass collectors.

The two-day event lecture series will range in subjects from sea glass to local shipwrecks and coastal conservation. Eastern Shore native, Richard LaMotte, the author of the award-winning book Pure Sea Glass will be holding an audience on Saturday morning. Angie Barker, curator of the Delaware Technical College’s exhibition Treasures of the Sea, will speak both days on the famed treasure hunter Mel Fisher’s search for the historic 1622 shipwreck of the Atocha. The exhibition is currently being held at the Georgetown Campus. Also on the agenda is Baltimore native Stu Jacobs, who with his daughter, Emily, has amassed an impressive collection of thousands of pieces of sea glass. Jacobs will be speaking on the history of his collection and his experience to find the origin of his glass shards.

In addition to over 60 sea glass and ocean artisans, the Delmarva Antique Bottle Club will be on-hand throughout the weekend to identify the origin of attendees’ pieces of sea glass. The members will have vintage bottle collections for reference and sale. Individual sea glass collections will also be on display, along with fun activities for all ages.

Musical talents will be on campus scheduled throughout the event including The Stimms, The Jazzmen, singer Mary Roth, and The Chanty Band. Food will be provided by local civic organizations.

Your $10 admission, (children 12 and under are free), to the 2-day festival, provides access to all LHS properties and museums including the Ryves Holt House, the Maritime Museum at the Cannonball House, the U.S. Lifesaving Station, the Lewes History Museum, and the LHS Antique Shop in the historic "Z Club" building. Proceeds from this event will benefit the educational and preservation programs of the Lewes Historical Society. For more details about the Mid-Atlantic Sea Glass & Coastal Arts Festival or more information on The Lewes Historical Society, contact 302-645-7670.