Close to 300 Glass Floats Dropped in Oregon Coast Town Over Next Month and Half

Published 12/20/22 at 4:25 AM
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Lincoln City, Oregon) – Oodles of glass floats will be showing up on the central Oregon coast soon – to the tune of close to 300 in the next month and a half. Lincoln City will be having some special glass float drops from now through February, with about 50 extra of them hitting the sands over the week between holidays, on top of the regular drops.

However, this weekend's shiny, round fun will get quite the dampener as glass float drops are canceled over the three days of King Tides, December 22 – 24.

It all starts with the 50 extra floats for Winter Break, happening December 28 through January 1 – which also happens to be Whale Watch Week. These special holiday drops have been innovative ones in the past, with different shapes and designs, so it will be interesting to see the central Oregon coast town springs on visitors. Oregon Coast Whale Week December Dates Announced; a Preview, Changes 

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If you didn't have any luck over that week, wait just six more days. On January 7 and 8, Lincoln City pulls out all the stops with 100 glass floats dropped over two days. It's called Opening Week and it's certainly a powerful opening volley for the first big drop of the year.

A little more than a month after that, another gob of really special glass float sessions hits: Antique Week in Lincoln City means actual Japanese glass floats numbering 100. This happens February 11 - 18.

These are the real thing: the old school, green glass balls that were used by Japanese fishermen for decades. Until about the ‘80s, they were seen along the Oregon coast in sizable numbers, drifting over from the east, and collected by just about everyone who ever hit this coastline and looked down.

Courtesy Explore Lincoln City

In many Pacific Northwest homes, they were a staple of décor, especially in the '70s.

A few years ago, Explore Lincoln City told Oregon Coast Beach Connection they had a connection up in Alaska to get these smoky green little babies, and a good supply of them stashed away.

As the infomercials say: But Wait, There's More...... In the middle of Antique Week comes a special Valentine's Day drop happening February 12 – 14. Some 50 glassy, circular wonders will be set out - in red, pink and white. It's romance by the seaside in artisan-shaped form.

All but the Japanese glass floats are created by local glass blowers from the Oregon coast, with each signed and numbered. Each is immediately a collector's item. You can then bring them to the Lincoln City Visitor's Center at 540 NE Hwy 101 to an autographed certificate of authenticity and a biography of the artist who created it.

The initial glass floats tradition started in 1997, after a local artist came up with an idea for a fun way to herald the new millennium. That inaugural season in 1999 took off faster than anyone anticipated and the little Oregon coast town stuck with it.

For a long time – somewhat unbeknownst to many – the city's Float Faeries would add one more art piece to the drops each year. In 2001, they dropped 2001, the next year they left 2002 – and so on. That built up until the 20th anniversary when they let loose some 3,000 in 2017. Until that year, Lincoln City's hugely popular drops were seasonal, going October through May, then quitting for the summer.

In 2018, to the delight of so many visitors it became year-round, only stopping in the case of major storms or during the pandemic. See the Explore Lincoln City site for more info

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