Mid-Atlantic Sea Glass & Coastal Arts Festival set June 23-24

The Lewes Historical Society announces the 2018 Mid-Atlantic Sea Glass & Coastal Arts Festival will be held Saturday and Sunday, June 23-24, at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry Terminal in Lewes. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday. Admission to the festival is $5 per person each day, paid at the gate; children under 12 are free. Shuttle services will be available to and from the festival.

Last year, the Mid-Atlantic Sea Glass & Coastal Arts Festival, attracted over 4,000 visitors. 2018 is the ninth year for this event. It will feature nearly 70 sea glass artists, joined by other coastal artists - including decoy carvers and waterfowl artists. Vendors come from up and down the East Coast, and as far away as Italy.

Enjoy festive live music and delicious food all weekend, as well as sea glass experts on site to help identify pieces.

Sea glass can be found all over the world, but the beaches of the northeast United States, California, northwest England, Mexico, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Nova Scotia, Italy and southern Spain are famous for their bounty of sea glass, bottles, bottle lips and stoppers, art glass, marbles, and pottery shards. The best times to look are during spring tides and during the first low tide after a storm.

Shards may also evidence a frosted side and a shiny side, most likely because they are pieces broken off from larger glass objects still embedded in mud, silt or clay, which are only slowly being exposed by wave action and erosion.

With greater environmental awareness, there has been a decline in naturally occurring sea glass, creating a great market for expensive and rare pieces.

The Lewes Historical Society invites the public to celebrate sea glass and coastal art June 23-24. For more details about the Mid-Atlantic Sea Glass & Coastal Arts Festival or for more information on the Lewes Historical Society, go to www.historiclewes.org.