Mid-Atlantic Sea Glass and Coastal Arts Festival

When: Saturday, June 3, and Sunday, June 4 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day, rain, or shine.

Where: 110 Shipcarpenter Street and US Life Savings Station, Lewes, Delaware 19958

Admission is $10 per person for the weekend. (Attendees must retain their entry bracelet to gain free access on Sunday.) Children 12 and under are free.

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 in discovering the origin of his glass shards. Also joining the line-up for the weekend is John Keith Fleming, a local resident and expert on early American bottles and glass. Fleming, who has spent hundreds of hours digging bottles and artifacts in Delaware will be sharing his expertise while speaking on “What you need to know to identify the origin of your sea glass”. Fleming, and fellow bottle expert Peter Beaman, both members of the Delmarva Antique Bottle Club, will be identifying shards of sea glass brought to them by attendees.

Close to 70 sea glass and ocean artisans will be highlighting and selling their unique art. The Delmarva Antique Bottle Club will be on-hand throughout the weekend to identify the origin of attendees’ pieces of sea glass. Please bring your favorite shards to be identified! Members will have vintage bottles 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, Matt Laferty & the Pros from Dover, singer Mary Roth, and The Chanty Band. Food will be provided by local civic organizations as well as Fat Vinny’s Food and Sabor Latino on Saturday, with Taco Reho on Sunday.

Proceeds from this event will benefit the educational and preservation programs of the Lewes Historical Society.

To pre-order your entry tickets, and avoid having to stand in line, visit: https://historic-lewes.myshopify.com/products/admission-to-the-2023-mid-atlantic-sea-glass-ocean-arts-festival

For more details about the Mid-Atlantic Sea Glass & Coastal Arts Festival or more information on The Lewes Historical Society, contact 302-645-7670.