2011: inaugural Festival of Glass at Drysdale

Around 5,000 people came to the inaugural Festival of Glass on Sunday 20 February 2011 at the Potato Shed in Drysdale, Victoria.

Main Hall, Potato Shed

Thirty stalls presented glass in all its forms, including sculpture, jewellery, mosaic, stained glass, leadlight, moulded glass, slumped glass and etched glass.

There were demonstrations of glass-working techniques, including bead-making, glass fusing, kiln forming, beadweaving, copper foiling and leadlighting. Short videos introduced people to the economics and local history of glass.

People brought glass items to the popular Old Glass Roadshow; voted for the best glass-related story, poem, song, painting or photograph and for the best glass jewellery; and the raffle prizes (glass, of course) were so attractive that the raffle tickets nearly ran out!

... and there's more!
Visitors overwhelmed by the scale and diversity of glass on show could watch four local musical acts throughout the day: 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 out of potatoes - in front of a Potato Shed! 'This has never happened before', he said and promptly booked-up for next year!

Finally, the Festival's commitment to sustainability meant that a public drinking fountain (and tips on being water-wise) replaced plastic bottles; extra rubbish and recycling bins (and tips on recycling) kept the whole site clean; and each stallholder was asked to think about the energy consumed in their products and their packaging.

We'd like to thank ...

The Festival organisers would like to thank our sponsors - especially the City of Greater Geelong (Arts & Culture) and the Bendigo Bank - for their support. This culmination of a fifteen-month dream really wouldn't have been possible without you.