Refract Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Refract is Seattle’s premier glass festival, a one-of-a-kind event celebrating the hundreds of glass artists working in this material who live in the Pacific Northwest. It includes programming with more than 80 events featuring 60 artists. Events are designed for everyone—from curious newcomers to long-time glass art collectors. All are welcome! In 2023, Refract celebrates its 5th year!
Refract runs from Thursday, October 12 (with the official kick off party, Gather, that evening) through Sunday, October 15, 2023. Some events run every day, some only happen once. You can filter the schedule on the website by day to see what’s happening on each date.
Gather is the official opening night party for Refract, and offers a great chance to meet many of the participating artists and get help from an onsite concierge to plan your itinerary.
Refract events are held throughout the city of Seattle, and in surrounding areas such as Tacoma, Issaquah, Everett and Bainbridge Island. Some events are accessible by public transportation, for others it will be helpful to have a car.
Refract events are produced by more than 50 partner artists and organizations, and the majority of events and programs are FREE! A few special programs do require paid tickets, or advance reservations. Follow the links on the website to purchase those directly from the event hosts.
On Saturday and Sunday, some of the top artists working in glass are opening up their usually private studios to welcome you. We have organized roughly by geography: on Saturday, open studios will be in the north-end neighborhoods of Seattle, and on Sunday, in the central, south, and west neighborhoods. We will add a printable map to the Open Studio page in early October. Please see each artist listing for capacity limitations and accessibility notes.
The following organizations have provided the following information on accessibility:
- Blowing Sands Glass Studio: The studio is accessible to wheelchairs/walkers. The restroom is not ADA-accessible.
- Chihuly Garden and Glass: https://www.chihulygardenandglass.com/visit/accessibility
- Glassybaby: https://www.glassybaby.com/pages/accessibility
- Museum of Glass: https://www.museumofglass.org/accessibility
- National Nordic Museum: https://nordicmuseum.org/accessibility
- Pan Pacific Seattle: https://www.panpacificseattle.com/accessibility-statement/
- Pratt Fine Arts Center: Please contact info@pratt.org or our front desk at 206.328.2200 and we will do our best to try to accommodate your need.
- Seattle Tacoma International Airport: The airport is fully ADA accessible. During the tour, if guests are not able to use the escalators, we always have an elevator in proximity.
- Vetri: Vetri is located at street level, and there is wheelchair access to most of the pedestals in the gallery for viewing. Viewing the Chihuly Studio Editions involves a narrow set of stairs, but Vetri staff is happy to bring the Chihuly Editions downstairs for viewing whenever this is called for. We want people of all abilities to feel welcome and inspired by the objects at Vetri. Please contact us if you have any questions.
For Open Artist Studios, please see individual events for more details.
We recommend one of our official Refract partner hotels who are offering special Refract packages! Click here to see the deals!
Our Glass Art Guide is an excellent resource!
Find all sorts of helpful resources here, along with contact information for our Visit Seattle visitor information team.
Refract will be held October 10-13, 2024.