Didn't we do well!

Around 5,000 people came to the inaugural Festival of Glass on Sunday 20 February at the Potato Shed in Drysdale. The Festival committee were delighted with the attendance, which was a massive endorsement of a dream that's taken 15 months to become reality.

Thirty stalls presented glass in all its forms, including sculpture, jewellery, mosaic, stained glass, leadlight, moulded glass, slumped glass and etched glass. There was glass at the cutting edge (ouch!) and a blast of glass from the past with antiques and collectibles.

There were demonstrations of various ways to work with glass, including bead-making, glass fusing, kiln forming, beadweaving, copper foiling and leadlighting. Short videos introduced people to the economics and local history of glass and to the extraordinary 'glass harmonica' invented by Benjamin Franklin.

For visitors, there was more to do than just look and admire, browse and buy. Lots of people brought glass items to the popular Old Glass Roadshow. Voting was fierce for the titles of best glass-related story, poem, song, painting or photograph and for best glass jewellery; and the raffle prizes (glass, of course) were so attractive that the raffle tickets nearly ran out!

Visitors overwhelmed by the scale and diversity of glass on show had a variety of musical alternatives throughout the day. The Festival showcased four local acts - The Gems, Judy McGovern, Paper (the band formerly known as Steer) and a local barbershop quartet.

The Lions sizzled almost as much as their sausages, but Rotary were as cool as their drinks; and the baked potato man ran out of potatoes - in front of a Potato Shed! 'This has never happened before', he said and booked-up for next year!

Finally, the Festival's commitment to sustainability was evident in various ways. A public drinking fountain dispensed with the need for plastic bottles and was accompanied by tips on being water-wise; extra rubbish and recycling bins kept the whole site clean and were accompanied by tips on recycling; and each stallholder was asked to think about the amount of energy consumed in their products and the nature of their packaging.

Thanks to our sponsors, including the City of Greater Geelong (Arts & Culture) and the Bendigo Bank for their support.

And now ... the organising starts for the 2012 Festival of Glass!

Festival exhibitors invited to 'go green'

Festival of Glass exhibitors are being encouraged to highlight their 'green' credentials.

The Festival committee is inviting each exhibitor to provide some or all of the following information as part of their exhibit:
• How much energy is consumed in making their products
• How much energy is saved by using their products (where appropriate)
• How they minimize packaging and/or how they use recycled or re-used materials as packaging.

Each exhibitor is, of course, free to decide whether and how to display that information. Some of them may not know how much energy is consumed or saved by their products; and some may be unable to minimize or re-use packaging - we are dealing with glass, after all!

For its part, the Festival committee is 'going green' by doing the following:
• increasing the number of recycling bins at the Potato Shed; prominent signs will encourage their use
• distributing information from the local council about responsible rubbish disposal and recycling
• providing a special water fountain where people can drink and can refill their water bottles; brochures about water conservation will be nearby!

The Festival committee - part of the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association (DCSCA) - is taking these steps to support one of DCSCA's major projects, 'Going Green on the Bellarine'. This project aims to promote and develop the local area as a showcase for tomorrow's 'green' economy by:

• inviting local businesses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save money by installing efficient lighting, heating and insulation
• pressing the City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) to ensure that its planned massive expansion of the local population is accompanied by a range of new jobs, to prevent the area becoming a 'dormitory town' for Geelong and Melbourne;
• lobbying for the local area to be part of any evaluation of electric vehicles' potential to reduce greenhouse gases.

Glass artist profile: Angela Robinson (Govinda Design)

The Festival of Glass is very pleased to welcome Angela Robinson, the name behind Govinda Designs - one of Melbourne's leading producers and installers of leadlight windows.

Angela started making leaded glass windows in 1991, working for her father's double-glazing company in the West of Ireland. She was the company's main designer and created many leaded windows and doors, including 42 windows for The Lighthouse Hotel in County Donegal.

Angela returned to Australia and completed a BA (Textile Design) in 1995 and worked as a Textile Designer for the next 15 years. In the last two years, she has returned to leadlighting, designing and making leaded windows through Govinda Design.

On this page is a small selection of Angela's work - see more at the Festival.

Festival of Glass: https://sites.google.com/site/afestivalofglass/

Glass artist profile: Lucy Cleary (Ozzie Mozzie Mosaics)

The Festival of Glass is very pleased to welcome Lucy Cleary - the name behind Ozzie Mozzie Mosaics (www.ozziemozziemosaics.com.au)

Lucy began making mosaics in early 2006, to cover an outdoor area in the home she was planning to build. 'I quickly became obsessed with this wonderful art form', she says.

Lucy's work often features natural elements, and also shows the influence of the seven years she lived in Korea. She uses a variety of materials, in her work, including stained glass, smalti, fused glass and a variety of natural materials.

On this page is just a glimpse of the wide range of subjects and styles in Lucy's mosaics.

Festival of Glass: https://sites.google.com/site/afestivalofglass/

'Gems' at a Festival of Glass?!

Local band 'The Gems' will play two sets at the Festival of Glass on Sunday February 20.

Trish, Sam and Dale created 'The Gems' in 2006 and for them, flexibility is the key. They play as a two-, three- or four-piece band playing 'folk, pop, country and everything in between'.

Says Trish, 'People like us because we play what they want to hear. Our main audience is the over-30s and we always have a good time.'

Catch Trish, Sam and Dale at 11.15 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. With a name like 'The Gems', how could they not play at the Festival of Glass!

Festival of Glass: https://sites.google.com/site/afestivalofglass/

Festival of Glass a 'mini' destination!

The Victorian Mini Club is coming to the Festival of Glass! Members from across the state will converge on Drysdale on 20 February for an informal getting together where they can show-off their iconic cars.

In the spirit of the Festival of Glass, the mini drivers will bring with them their glass windscreens, their glass headlights, their glass wing mirrors, their glasses ....

The Festival may be a 'mini' destination, but it's a major event! as you can see in the picture, 'early birds' in the Club are rushing to make sure they arrive despite recently flooded roads.

For more about the Festival of Glass: https://sites.google.com/site/afestivalofglass/

Festival of Glass reaches another 15,000 readers!

The SpringDale Messenger, published this week, features a full-page centrefold spread about the Festival of Glass.

The Messenger is a free community magazine that is published by the Springdale Neighbourhood Centre and distributed across the Bellarine Peninsula - Drysdale, Clifton Springs, Portarlington, Indented Head, St Leonards and Ocean Grove. Each edition has a print run of 6,500, but each edition is read by at least two people, because it's to households and is also present in cafes, shops and newsagents and local doctors' surgeries! So we're confident that around 15,000 readers will see the Festival centrefold.

The Festival is on the front cover of the Messenger, which is pictured here; the Festival centrefold is on pages 12 and 13. The Springdale Neighbourhood Centre is a sponsor of the Festival of Glass, for which we're very grateful.
For more about SpringDale: http://springdale.org.au/
To download the February Messenger: http://springdale.org.au/category/messenger/

Wrapped around (pages 11 and 14) the centrefold is a special feature on the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association Inc., which initiated the Festival of Glass.

For more about the Festival of Glass: https://sites.google.com/site/afestivalofglass/