Corning Launches 4-day GlassFest Celebration

Corning's inaugural GlassFest weekend will transform the city's historic downtown Gaffer District into the place to celebrate all things glass.

There will be live glass-making, sales, family activities, wine and beer tasting, musical entertainment and more. Events get started at 5 p.m. today with opening ceremonies at the Corning Museum of Glass. Afterward, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., the museum will present one in a series of its free 2300° events, starring Rochester-based glassmaker Michael Rogers, who will combine casting and glassblowing techniques to produce colorful creations out of molten glass on the Museum's Hot Glass Show stage.

There also will be live music by Detroit-based Misty Love and the Motown Sound. Food and drink will be available for purchase, along with free hors d'oeuvres. A free shuttle bus will run from the museum's main parking lot off state Route 17/Interstate 86, exit 46, until 8:30 p.m. The museum's newest exhibition, "Medieval Glass for Popes, Princes and Peasants," which features glass made in the Middle Ages and designed for everyday use, will be open to participants.

Music and more

Daily attractions at GlassFest will include narrated walking tours of historic Market Street available on your phone, exhibits at the Corning glass museum and special glass-related exhibitions at the Rockwell Museum of Western Art.

There also will be live music Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings in Centerway Square: musician Virgil Cain will perform from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, the West High Jazz Band will play from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, and country musicians Wendy Owens and Renegade will entertain from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

On Friday evening, patrons can sample wines and craft beer from more than 20 Finger Lakes establishments. There will be free limousine shuttles and collectible glasses available for purchase at Centerway Square, Radisson Hotel Corning and The Site Cyber Bar and Grill. (Don't forget your photo I.D.)

Friday's events end with Light Up the Night at Riverside Park, featuring contemporary neon glass sculpture. The outdoor gallery runs until 10:30 p.m., but don't oversleep the next day or you'll miss the new GlassFest 8K race, sponsored by the Wineglass Running Club. The race starts at 8:30 a.m. in front of Corning War Memorial Stadium, next to East High School.

Market Street will be closed to traffic Saturday and Sunday so visitors can peruse booths from dozens of regional glass, ceramics, jewelry and metal artists and watch live demonstrations. The Science and Discovery Center will present "The Quest to Talk With Light: A Fiber Optic Play," starring area high school students, twice on Saturday and Sunday at the 171 Cedar Arts Center Drake House.

On Sunday, bring your heirloom glassware to a glass identification clinic from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. or get information from the American Cut Glass Association. Throughout the weekend, the Rakow Library will be taking oral histories from those who have worked with glass in Corning or known someone who has. (Call 974-8710 or 974-8644 to schedule an appointment.)