THOUSANDS of people descended on Stourbridge Glass Museum over the bank holiday weekend as The International Festival of Glass returned to the borough.
Visitor numbers at the museum on High Street, Wordsley, totalled around 2,000 with it taking around £12,000 over the weekend in ticket sales and the sale of donated glass and donated books.
The event has been held in Stourbridge for the last 20 years, but will now move to St Helens, which is also a world leader in glass making, for the 2026 festival.
There were many events across the various venues including Red House Glass Cone and Ruskin Glass Centre but highlights at the museum included demonstrations by Trustees Allister Malcolm, Chris Day and Elliot Walker and also Maddy Hughes and Darren Weed in the hot glass studio.
Maddy created her surrealist hot glass sculptures, part of the Nature Re-imagined series featured in the 2024 Biennale exhibition - Maddy was a contestant on Season 3 of Netflix’s ‘Blown Away’ series and Elliot Walker was the winner of Season 2.
Allister and his team also showcased the creation of the winning design from The Worshipful company of Glass Sellers’ Doodle Competition inspired by endangered animals which is now on display at the museum.
Lynn Boleyn, Secretary to the Trustees of British Glass Foundation said “It was an absolutely amazing weekend and thanks must go to all our wonderful volunteers who worked so hard to make the event such a success by assisting visitors and selling the donated glass and books which raised hundreds of pounds for the museum which is run by the charity”.
There was also a spectacular lantern show.
Dudley Council’s Red House Glass Cone at Wordsley conducted behind the scenes tours.
Glass fusing sessions and crafts took place at the cone throughout and there were a variety of talks including The Magic of Glass, Women in the Glass Industry and In Conversation with Dr Kate Round.
The cone’s studios were opened, with a chance for people to explore and meet artisan craft makers based on the site. Glass Quarter Designs ran drop-in sessions throughout the weekend.
The festival, the UK's only glass festival, was held over the four days of the bank holiday weekend.
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