Mystic ― Beachcombers and sea glass enthusiasts will descend on Mystic Seaport Museum this weekend to sell their wares, educate the public and compete in the “shard of the year” contest.

“Our first festival was held in New England, so we’re kind of going back to our roots this year,” said Roxann Williams, festival director for the International Sea Glass Association on Monday.

This weekend, the museum will host the association’s 17th annual Sea Glass Festival, offering visitors and fellow sea glass hunters the opportunity to see unique finds and learn all about sea and beach glass from experts.

Williams said sea and beach glass collecting has gained in popularity over the years due to the accessibility of it as a hobby as well as the ease with which it can be done.

“It transcends all ages and backgrounds. You don’t have to be wealthy to do this, it’s just a walk on the beach,” said Williams.

The glass tells a historical tale as well.

One of her favorite pieces is a necklace made of clear sea glass with the raised letters “rox” on it -- a remnant of an old glass Clorox bleach bottle.

“What a lot of people enjoy about it is the treasure hunt and the historical research they can do to find out what exactly they have found,” Williams said.

Williams explained that anywhere there is a history of industry, human habitation and a body of water, there is the potential for sea glass, because industries and artists had a habit of throwing waste into lakes, rivers and oceans.

For example, she noted that Lake Erie produces a great deal of blue sea glass due to lightbulb factories that were once nearby, and the Pacific coast of the United States is known for beautiful, multi-colored sea glass that artists once tossed into rivers and oceans.

“You get these beautiful colors and swirls and patterns in glass because of that. It also happened in Italy and some of the other European countries, and England. They even have a term for it, calling it ‘the end of the day glass,’ because when the artisans were done working at the end of the day, they just threw the remains of their glass in the water,” she said.

Red, yellow and orange colored sea glass are prized because they are the rarest colors people find, as industry typically used colors that were easier and cheaper to produce like brown, green and clear sea glass which are fairly common. Blue sea glass can fall into either category with some being very rare and others being common, like the color she called “seafoam” used in old Pepsi bottles.

Today, she said sea glass is becoming harder to find due to laws prohibiting people and industries from dumping trash into waterways, the development and increased use of plastics as well as a significant increase in people combing beaches collecting it.

Visitors to the festival can attend lectures, some of which have a local focus, and view collections of unique and rare beach finds from the Northeast including bottles, marbles and pottery at the Collector’s Showcase.

Participants can even win cash prizes by entering their own finds into one of the festival’s 10 contest categories, including find of the year, most unusual, whimsical/ toys, and historical.

The competition includes not just sea glass, but any glass worn by years in rivers, lakes or the ocean, and even items that are not glass at all. For example, an old clay pipe or a vintage children’s toy that is worn away by time in the water may be entered into Sunday’s contest.

Judges will determine which category entries belong in, and each entry must be authentic, unaltered from the way it was found and labeled with the body of water it was found in or near.

“We make sure it’s real. It’s authentic,” Williams said, explaining that the judges are well versed in spotting the differences between natural and mechanical wear.

Additionally, all vendors, selling everything from art to jewelry to home decor, are members of the association and pledge that their products are authentic.

The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. A schedule of events and more information is available on the association’s website at www.seaglassassociation.org.