The Inaugural Buffalo Beach Glass & Coastal Arts Festival
April 14-15, 2018 • The Event Center at the Hamburg Fairgrounds
Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm — Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm
Join us for two days dedicated to beach and sea glass! Over 85 talented sea glass and beach glass artists, jewelers, and collectors from all across the U.S. and Canada will be showcasing their creations, sharing their knowledge through our lecture series, judging our Best Beach Find Contest, and enjoying a great weekend with fellow beach lovers.
- Come learn how to make your own sea glass jewelry, dive into the history of glassware and backyard bottle hunting, and hear about shipwrecks on the Great lakes in our lecture series.
- Bring your favorite beachcombing finds to enter to win cash prizes in the Best Beach Find Contest.
- Over 85 talented artists, beer and wine, food trucks, and plenty of parking
Admission: Adults: $6 for one day, $10 for both days • Military/55 and Over/Kids age 1-12: $4
There’s something for everyone, including a place to hang out and take a break from the show: The Mer-Man Cave! Relax, grab a beer or wine and a bite from the food trucks, and hang out while your friends enjoy this once-a-year Great Lakes beach festival!
This is a juried show, which means you will be seeing the best and brightest of the beach and sea glass community. Vendors will be showing you the most remarkable sea and beach glass creations and coastal arts from around North America at this Great Lakes beach glass festival.
We have teamed up with Jennifer and Terri Reed from Relish, Inc. in Erie, PA and are offering this sister show to their Great Lakes Beach Glass & Coastal Arts Festival, to begin April 2018 and run every other year, alternating with the Erie show every other year. In the same style as the amazingly successful Great Lakes festival in Pennsylvania, which has seen amazing success, we are offering the best sea glass and beach glass vendors from all across the country and Canada, inspiring lectures, a Best Beach Find Contest in Buffalo in 2018.
The proceeds from the Chinese Auction to benefit Hospice of Buffalo.
Lecture Series
Join us for talks all about beach glass with our stellar lineup of speakers:
- Meg Carter, Jeweler, Made by Meg, Columnist, Glassing Magazine
On Saturday at noon, Meg Carter will talk about “Sea Glass Jewelry, Beginner to Pro Q&A”. Learn the basics of sea glass jewelry making in a fun, interactive presentation. - Peter Jablonski, President, Greater Buffalo Bottle Collectors Association
On Saturday at 1:30 pm, he will offer Time Capsule in Your Backyard (how to locate and dig a privy for bottles and artifacts, how glass bottles were made, a brief history of the Lancaster and Lockport NY Glassworks, how to date and identify your finds, along with a large display of bottles from 1850-1900, stoneware crocks, clay pipes, chamber pots, doll heads, clay pipes, blue and white transferware, coins, buttons, miscellaneous glass artifacts and shards.
On Sunday at noon, Peter Jablonski will present “Bottle Collecting Categories” (historic Flasks, Bitters, Mineral Waters, Quack Medicines, Milks, Beers , Pontil-ed Sodas Poisons, etc.) - Debra Hall-Stonish, Docent, Explore Buffalo
On Saturday at 2:30 pm, Debra will share her talk “The Erie Canal: The Creation of the Empire State.” The Erie Canal had a significant impact not only on the growth of Buffalo but the growth of the nation. The talk includes: the initial concept of the Canal, the political fight to make it a reality, the construction of this amazing civil engineering feat, and its effect on the economy of Buffalo as it became one of the largest inland ports in the world. - Mike and Georgann Wachter, Shipwreck Hunters
On Sunday at 1:30 pm, Mike and Georgann will speak about “Sidewheel: Tragedy & Treasure.” These shipwreck divers will discuss some of the worst disasters on open waters of the Great Lakes, which occurred on sidewheel steamers.
Best Beach Find Contest
Be sure to bring your greatest recent discovery to enter in Sunday’s Best Beach Find Contest. Entries — one free with paid admission, and up to three additional entries are $5 each — will be accepted until 3 pm on Sunday. There will be cash prizes for Best of Show, runner up winners, and prizes in other categories such as toys, sea glass bottles, marbles, etc.
Location
The Event Center is located at the Fairgrounds in Hamburg, NY. This 74,000-square-foot exhibit hall will be filled with beach glass artisans and collectors selling everything from beach glass jewelry to one-of-a-kind artworks. There is plenty of parking and the event center is ADA accessible. Directions ›
Come for a day or for the weekend and enjoy the beauty of Lake Erie beaches (5 miles away), exciting Buffalo (15 miles), gorgeous Niagara Falls (30 miles), and charming Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario (50 miles) for a dream weekend for sea glass lovers. Bring your passport if you want to check out Niagara Falls from both sides! Learn more ›
Exhibitors
All About Sea Glass
Paula Fedele
Amyables Sea Glass
Amy Kostecki
Angela Schanfish Custom Creations
Angela Schanfish
Aremel Soaps
Robin Lenhard
Artisan Sea Glass
Amy Schmitt
At Water’s Edge
Dan & Carol Jackson
Beach Bum Glass / Glassing Magazine
Glassing/Beach Bum Glass
Beach Glass Jewelry
Dr. Renee Ascher-Ellis
Beach Baubles
Marianna Bellatoni
Beach Glass Bling Windows
Kristine Welchko
Beach Glass Chic
Denise Tunney
Beach Glass Jewelry by Tina
Tina Banzer
Beach Treasures
Pam McCormick
Bead Boutique dba A Mermaids Musings
Tricia Hall
Becky’s Beach Glass Designs
Becky Fox
Black Dog Design
Cindy Mullen
Blue Harbor Jewelry
Jeanette Leonard
Buckeye Chocolate Company
John Formanski
CandleBox
Leah Show
Destello Jewelry
Sherri Herman
DMG-Creations
Dottie Gilbo
England beach Glass
Joanne England
Etched by the Sea
Kirsti Scott
France’s Finest Findings
France Lessard
Fullmoon Studio Clayworks
Fumihiko Mochizuki
Giftologie
Teresa Schaubel
Glacial Impressions
Kevin Selkregg
Heart to Heart Design
Kyle Kochiss
Jewelry Beyond the Sea
Cheryl Perez
Jill Rouke Handwovens
Jill Rouke
JPW Pottery
Jane P Waxenfelter
Julie Anderson Design
Julie Anderson
Just Beachy
Sandra Amoia
Kate Samson Design
Kate Samson
Lakeland Winery
Andrew Watkins
Lakewinds Design
Jeanne Comerford
Lovely Glassworks
Lynn Lovely
Made by Meg
Meg Carter
Mary’s Lakeside Designs
Mary Gugliuzza
McDaniel Pottery
Caelin McDaniel
Monkey in Silver Creek
Tina LaFalce
Nature’s Drift
Terri King
North Coast Beachcombers
Daniel Carr
Once Upon My Shore
Emily Mobilia
One Woman’s Empire
Charlene Schum
Papaya Arts
Kenia Ciraulo
Pastries by Andrea
Andrea Reiser
Peterman Prints
Scott Peterman
Pink Cottage Natural Bodycare
Janice Fatica
Poseys by the Sea
Sue Posey
Relish
Jennifer Reed
Saltbox Primitives
Jerry and Frances George
Sea Glass Art by Mary Lou Powers
Mary Lou Powers
Sea Glass Creations
Sharon DeAngelo
Sea Glass Heart Art
Stephanie Swain
Sea Glass Searcher’s Club
Cindy Bilbao
Sea Goddess Treasures
Francine Mueller
Sea Helper
Sean Hodino
Seaglassin
Ann Marie Johnson
Seaside Beach Glass
Michelle and Gladys
Seyshelles
Lisa Gadway
Shell ‘n’ Swells
Yvonne Marks Smith
Ship or Shore
Tammy Shannon
Signeture Line
Signe Lawson
Silver Whimsies
Wendy Garver
Skydancerdreams
Victoria Wieczorek
SRM Arts
Shaina Renea Michael
Sue’s Artisitc View
Sue Sessaman
Suegray Sea Glass
Sue Gray
Sunsport Canvas
Dennis and Chris Ann Buday
Tanning Rocks Workshop
Renata Tarnacki
Thairapy Jewels
Amy Bartell
The Deep Blue
Barbara Fletcher
Treasures in Nature
Jeanne Kollecker
VasePlace
Deborah Florian
Washed Ashore Jewelry
Beverly Vinch
We R Nuts
Pearl Omphaluis
Xtalfeather! Visionary Healing Jewelry
JD Foriest