Glass festival set to dazzle

4:18pm Friday 11th April 2008

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STOURBRIDGE'S prestigious International Festival of Glass looks set to sparkle more than ever this year.

Organisers are busy co-ordinating the £225,000 event which is expected to attract thousands of visitors to the town's Glass Quarter over the August Bank Holiday weekend (Friday 22 to Monday 25).

Judges were this week whittling down a record number of entries for one of the highlights of the festival - the British Glass Biennale; the country's biggest glass showcase featuring work by 80 renowned glass artists - with £14,000 worth of prizes on offer to the best of the best entrants.

A host of other dazzling events and attractions including glassmaking workshops, demonstrations, masterclasses, exhibitions and public arts performances are also being lined up for this year's event - to make it an unforgettable weekend.

Festival director Janine Christley said: "The third International Festival of Glass promises to be the most exciting glass gathering in Britain - since the last festival two years ago."

She said for the first time since the event started in 2004, Stourbridge town centre will be closed to traffic on Saturday August 23 for a huge glass market.

This year's festival will also feature a big antique glass fair, a sculpture garden, heritage walks, a bead fair, narrowboat trips and street entertainers.

Events will be held throughout the Glass Quarter at Amblecote's Glasshouse Arts Centre, Wordsley's Red House Glass Cone, Kingswinford's Broadfield House and a host of other venues in and around Stourbridge.

To find out more check out www.ifg.org.uk, email info@ifg.org.uk or call 01384 399410.