36 sites ... and growing

Four months ahead of the 2012 Festival of Glass, exhibitors have already booked 36 sites and applications continue to arrive.

The sites booked so far reflect the multi-faceted world of glass. They include mosaics, jewellery, glass beads and bead-making, stained glass, sculptures, glazing, slumped glass platters, ceramics, leadlighting, glass etching and sandblasting. At the inaugural Festival of Glass in February 2011, 29 exhibitors attracted more than 6,000 visitors. The 2012 Festival looks likely to be even bigger, taking another small step towards the Festival Committee's vision of the Festival of Glass becoming Australia's primary showcase for glass-related art, craft and industry.

The Festival's move from Drysdale's Potato Shed to the nearby - much bigger - Bellarine Basketball Stadium is certainly looking justified in terms of the number of exhibitors. The next step, of course, is to attract the crowds and the Festival marketing plan is about to start, funded partly by the $6,000 investment by the City of Greater Geelong. (See 'Festival experts give tick of approval' on this blog. 29 September 2011) Over the next few months, mention of the 2012 Festival of Glass should start to appear in a variety of local and regional print and electronic media.