Sea Glass Contest

ISGA

It’s time to bring your favorite finds to the Sea Glass Festival and maybe you’ll bring home a cash prize…and bragging rights! The 17th Annual Sea Glass Contest is a chance for you to enter your favorite sea and beach glass finds in a dozen categories. Judges will award winners for Find of the Year (aka Best in Show), Frosted Bottles, Pottery/Ceramics, Whimsical/Toys, Bottle Stopper, Most Unusual, Historical, Art Glass, Marbles, Buttons/Beads, Figural, and Vendor Entry.

Judges are looking for well-worn sea and beach glass, special markings, beautiful finds, rare colors, unique shapes, whimsical finds, and large pieces that are still intact after years in the waves. While letters on pieces or shapes like hearts aren’t rare, if the wording shows that a piece is historical, or the heart is a rare color or large size, it’s a potential winner. See photos from past festivals for an idea of what judges are looking for.

You must be at the festival on Sunday to enter the contest. Entry cards are sold in the ISGA booth at the show on Saturday and Sunday and cost $5 per card, each with spots for up to three entries. You enter your card and entries on Sunday morning and at 3 p.m. on Sunday we announce the winners. Winners of the Sea Glass Contest will take home cash prizes ($250 for Find of the Year winner and $50 for winner in each category), winner certificates, and their pieces will be featured in Beachcombing Magazine.  Good luck!

Roxie Zwicker to Speak at the 2023 Festival

ISGA

The 17th Annual International Sea Glass Association Festivalwill be held July 29-30, 2023, on the Village Green of the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut. Learn more about attending this two-day sea and beach glass festival with talented artisans, knowledgeable speakers, the annual sea glass contest, and an opportunity to connect with fellow sea glass enthusiasts in a beautiful New England coastal setting.

New England Sea Glass Stories

Sunday, July 30, 2023

Roxie Zwicker

It’s hard to resist the lure of beachcombing in New England, with tales of shipwrecks and pirates dating back to the 17th century, where there are places to walk the beach and find relics of the past with stories to tell. Roxie has amassed a collection of over 4,000 beach finds, with some dating back to the 17th century. With a focus on Boston, Cape Cod, and the coast of New Hampshire she will share dramatic stories, images of her collection, and a virtual tour of her favorite spots.

New England’s Mystery Maven, Roxie Zwicker has been entertaining the locals, visitors from away, and curious souls since 1994. Her company New England Curiosities, located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, has been offering award winning tours, presentations, and special events since 2002 based on New England folklore and mysterious history. Roxie’s TV appearances include New Hampshire Chronicle, New England Cable News, The History Channel, and the Travel Channel. Roxie is a published author of eight books that delve into the region’s history, legends, and lore, and her next book has a focus on New England sea glass. Wicked Curious Radio is Roxie’s podcast available on all major podcast platforms. Her extensive collection of sea glass takes up an entire room in her house and her website can be found at newenglandcuriosities.com.

Mystic Expert Rich Froh speaking at 2023 Festival

ISGA

Join us for educational presentations about sea and beach glass, local coastal information, and more during the 2023 Sea Glass Festival. These presentations will take place in the historic 1850s Meeting House, part of Mystic Seaport Museum’s seaport village. This bustling village was recreated with trade shops, businesses, and buildings that were transported to the museum grounds.

A History of Maritime Mystic

Saturday, July 29, 2023

Rich Froh

Mystic has long been a major hub of the seafaring world, playing host to shipbuilding, fishing, global trade, naval warfare, and everything in between. Come learn about our rich local history, and discover what makes Mystic such a special place.

Richard (Rich) Froh has spent his life exploring local waters and waterfronts and feeding his hunger for history, especially local and maritime histories. With his wife, June, Rich has traveled to many historic sites in the U.S. and Europe, but his appreciation for the history of the Mystic River area and Mystic’s connection to national and world events remains the center of his focus and passion. His full-time job at the Museum allows him to, as he puts it, “de-mystify Mystic” by helping history buffs and those less familiar with our past, appreciate what has happened on these grounds and the surrounding waters.

Captain Ky Davis to Speak at the 2023 Festival

ISGA

The International Sea Glass Festival features educational presentations about sea and beach glass, local coastal information, and more. The Festival Committee is pleased to announce another speaker for the 2023 festival, which will be held at Mystic Seaport Museum on July 29–30, 2023. Learn more ›

Sailing for Sea Glass

Sunday, July 23, 2023

Ky Davis

Captain Ky Davis lives on a Ta Yang (Tayana) 50′ Flying Dutchman sailboat and travels the Caribbean in search of rare sea glass. Ky will share some of his experiences hunting for sea glass on beaches, in underwater caves, and down cliff sides, where he finds beautiful, rare sea glass and more. You’ll get a peek at his life living on his sailboat as he travels the seas to find untouched sea glass beaches.

Captain Ky the Sea Glass Guy from LC’s Glass is a treasure hunter circumnavigating the world on his sailboat, The Emerald of Pleiades, with his Yorkshire Terrier, LC, in search of the world’s greatest unknown sea glass beaches. He has spent time as a firefighter, combat medic, explorer, adventurer, survivalist, farmer, and ship captain. Find Ky on Instagram @suns_out_tonguesout, on Facebook at @SunsOutTonguesOut, and on YouTube at The Bored Pirate. 

Guy Fleming to Speak at the 2023 Sea Glass Festival

ISGA

The International Sea Glass Festival features educational presentations about sea and beach glass, local coastal information, and more. The Festival Committee is pleased to announce the first confirmed speaker for the 2023 festival, which will be held at Mystic Seaport Museum on July 29–30, 2023.

Zen Sea Glassing

Saturday, July 29, 2023

Guy Fleming

In a lifetime, change may occur quickly and sometimes very unexpectedly. After Guy lost all his worldly possessions in the severe Superstorm Sandy of 2012, he faced  another tragedy when he divorced shortly afterward. Searching for solace and new beginning in life, he began walking beach, discovering sea glass and an improved quality of life. Guy will share personal stories, Zen techniques and important ways to become an environmental steward.

Guy Cash Fleming has been expressing himself creatively ever since he sat down with a bass guitar as a teenager. He spent 34 years working as a chemical operator and instrumentation technician for a major pharmaceutical company, and he is also a musician, photographer, and amateur sea glass jeweler. Although he thought he’d never write a book, six months into retirement he suddenly had the urge and honored it wholeheartedly, with the release of For the Love of Sea Glass. Since then he’s walked more than 10,000 miles on the beaches of New Jersey, found in excess of 200,000 pieces of sea glass, and wrote two additional books, entitled Sea Glass for Miles, (a sea glass color/rarity guide), and Sea Glass Stories from the Beautiful New Jersey Coast, a coffee table book. Guy lives in New Jersey with his wife Yolanda, also an author, and their two young adult children.