BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Musikfest isn't all music and food.
Instructors from the Banana Factory are teaching 'Festers how to blow glass, guiding participants through the process of making a jellyfish orb or paperweight.
Joe Capparell has been a glass teacher with the Banana Factory for two years and said he’s been blowing glass for 14 years. Since the start of Muskifest, he and other teachers have been standing inside a white tent each day next to a furnace heated to 2,100 degrees.
- A hot glass experience is offered at Musikfest
- The cost is $65
- Customers can hand blow a glow-in-dark jelly orb or paperweight
Customers can choose between making a jellyfish orb or a paperweight. They’re glow-in-the-dark this year.
Capparell said people are excited to try it because it’s something new and different.
“It is unique, you know, you don't really have a lot of glassblowers out there,” he said. “So to say something you made is hand blown. It makes an amazing story. It makes an amazing present.”
Participants do have to sign a waiver in case they get hurt. But Capparell said it’s so easy they can teach a kindergartner how to blow glass.
“That's the greatest thing about glassblowing is that there's nothing that you have in your experience that's going to help you in this studio. Everybody starts out at the very bottom.”
The objects are created using a hellishly hot furnace. They are then set into shape through the cooling ovens, where they sit overnight. People can pick up their glass the next day or at the Banana Factory after Musikfest. Or they can pay to have it shipped.
People can sign up between 4 and 8 p.m. through Sunday and it costs $65.
“So to say something you made is hand blown. It makes an amazing story. It makes an amazing present.”Hot Glass Instructor Joe Capparell
Capparell said he's seen lots of interest in the glass-blowing experience and also the after-hours mug contest, where local artists compete to make the best mug in 90 minutes. So far, the leading favorite seems to be the Bloody Mary mug.
“Myself and one of the other glassblowers commentate on it,” he said. “We explain the techniques, what they're doing and why they're doing it.”
The hot glass experience is also offered during Oktoberfest and Christkindlmarkt.
