Hawaii’s first Sea Glass and Coastal Arts Festival is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Anna Ranch in Waimea.
Admission to the festival is $5 per person; children under 12 are free. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Big Island Surfrider Foundation.
The sea glass and maritime-themed event is a juried show featuring first-class artwork created by 18 local and mainland jewelers, ceramicists, photographers and authors. Big Island and Oahu artists will be joined by artists from California, Washington, Texas, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
Along with arts for sale, tables will also display sea glass and beach treasures from across the globe as well as a beach treasure swap table.
All sea glass used is genuine, and only shells that are not endangered and have been ethically harvested (found on beaches empty of life) are used. Sunrise shells, in particular, are banned, because of the proliferation of harvesting them live across the state.
Like collecting shells, driftwood or fossils, combing shorelines for sea glass is a hobby many beachcombers enjoy. Sea glass can be found all over the world, but the beaches of the northeast United States, Hawaii, California, northeast England, Puerto Rico, Nova Scotia and southern Spain are famous for their bounty of sea glass, bottles, bottle lips and stoppers, art glass, marbles and/or pottery shards. Artisans craft beautiful pieces of jewelry, stained glass, ornaments and other decorative treasurers.
The festival is being held in conjunction with the seventh International Beachcombing Conference taking place in Waimea through Sunday.
Info: www.thebeachcombingconference.com. ■