2026 Beachcombers 'n Glass Float Expo Brings Real Glass Floats to Washington Coast

Published 01/23/26 at 6:55 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Ocean Shores, Washington) – There are a few glass float drops along the Pacific Northwest Coast, especially the Oregon side. However, up on the Washington coast, things take a turn for the real nitty gritty every year. Ocean Shores doesn't just drop floats on the beach, and these aren't the fine-tuned, artisan-crafted items, either. Photo Beachcombers Expo / Claudia Lucas.

Like the days of old, these come ashore naturally, and they are actual Japanese glass floats that once crossed the ocean.

The 2026 Beachcombers & Glass Float Expo is coming soon to Ocean Shores, which kicks off its festivities on February 14 by dropping the real McCoy into the Great Blue Deep, continuing until March 8.

Photo John Shaw / Beachcombers Expo

This float release is part of the main event, Beachcombers & Glass Float Expo, which takes place at the Ocean Shores Convention Center. The Expo runs Saturday, March 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, March 8, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is budget-friendly at $3 per person, $5 per couple, and free for children under 12.

Among the features of the fest is the contest to win large prize floats. To enter, locate one of these floats from the release - one per person - and post a photo of your find in the Beachcombers & Glass Float Expo Facebook group with the hashtag #EXPO26. Bringing your float to the Expo in person boosts your chances. The contest closes at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 8, 2026.

Keith Glein is with the glass float drop portion of the event.

Photo Beachcombers Expo / Sue Lowatchie

“All glass fishing floats we release will be etched with 'EXPO26' this year,” he said. “We don't want them to be confused with floats that wash ashore from the deep ocean. I have seen a few real beach finds in the past month show up on social media.”

Glein said they find these via various suppliers out there. They are the real things: true glass floats that came from Japan. And the Expo folks do things a bit differently.

While many floats will be placed on the beaches from Ocean Shores to Copalis Beach, some come in with the tides. When conditions are conducive, a few crabber boats head out and drop them into the water so they float in with the currents.

The festival has a lot of sides to it. Yes, there's this glass float drop-and-hunt, but the event takes on all kinds of beachcombing, with tables featuring experts, advice, glass floats for sale, other intriguing beach objects being sold. In the past, notable groups like NOAA and Washington CoastSavers (a version of Oregon coast's SOLVE and CoastWatch combined) have been a part. Various museums will be there too.

The Oceans Shores event hasn't been as quite well known in all circles as those on the Oregon coast, but the 2023 event dragged out nearly 4,000 souls over one weekend. Then, as one of the organizers told Oregon Coast Beach Connection in recent years, the 2024 glass float hunt drew some astounding 3,000 more followers to their Facebook group.

Since the '80s, it has been around in one form or another, entertaining and enthralling folks of all ages. Glass floats now – just as then – have been the bomb for both the Oregon coast and Washington side, growing by leaps and bounds in mass popularity.

At one point over the decades, the festival became a for-profit event when it moved to the Oregon Shores Convention Center. Alan Rammer had been there since the beginning, and when the professional organizer began to drop the show because of health reasons back in 2021, others took up the reigns, formed the nonprofit group Beachcombers Heritage, and it was saved.

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