WindowFest and WindowLympics
October 31 – November 13, 2026
Historic Grand Opera House
Uvalde, Texas
Foundations → WindowFest & WindowLympics → Advanced Application
Every generation inherits something worth preserving.
Some inherit buildings.
Some inherit knowledge.
Some inherit a responsibility to pass both to the next generation.
WindowFest is where those responsibilities come together.
For two weeks, artisans, homeowners, preservation leaders, teachers, students, and communities gather around one purpose: to build the people who will preserve historic windows—and the communities that depend on them.
This is more than a conference.
It is a gathering of people who believe that craftsmanship still matters, that teaching matters, that service matters, and that what we build today should outlive us.
Join us as we unite, equip, inspire, and send artisans to serve and defend historic house communities through the pillars of WindowCraft.
October 31 - November 4
Foundation Field Labs
The opening week offers two simultaneous introductory tracks:
Introduction to Sash Making
Learn the joinery, tooling, sequence, and reasoning required to make traditional wooden sash using the Sash Factory system.
Introduction to Window Craft
Learn to understand and work with the window as a complete system—sash, frame, mechanics, fitting, repair, finishing, and return to service.
Couples, partners, and teams can divide between the two tracks for broader exposure.
And the work has a destination.
Students completing Foundation Week will have the opportunity to bring what they have learned—and what they have made—into WindowFest and the WindowLympics.
November 5-8
WindowFest and WindowLympics
This is the public heart of the gathering.
Come watch sash being made. See windows being repaired. Learn from demonstrations and conversations. Meet artisans, students, craftspeople, historic-house owners, and preservation leaders. Explore tools, ideas, techniques, and the larger world of Window Craft.
The WindowLympics make craftsmanship visible through competition, including opportunities for experienced practitioners as well as a new-student division and Showcase for participants coming out of Foundation Week.
Someone can arrive in Uvalde having never made a sash—and days later stand beside work they made themselves as it is displayed and judged.
That is capacity being created.
You do not need to participate in a Field Lab to attend WindowFest.
Come see. Come learn. Bring somebody with you.
November 9-13
Advanced Field Lab and Fellowship
After WindowFest, the work goes deeper.
The Advanced Field Lab is for participants who already have a working familiarity with sash making and the fundamentals of Window Craft.
Here the questions become harder.
Participants move into investigation, architectural archaeology, diagnosis, complex sash and frame work, carpentry, mechanics, finishing, sequencing, and judgment.
For those participating in the entire two weeks, this is the culmination of the experience:
First, build the foundation.
Then see and test it at WindowFest.
Then carry it into advanced real-world work.
Advanced Field Lab and Fellowship
Enrollment in the Field Labs is intentionally small, and several places are already spoken for.
But WindowFest & WindowLympics is for everybody.
You do not have to take a Field Lab.
You do not have to be an experienced craftsperson.
You do not have to know how to make a sash.
Come see the work. Meet the people doing it. Discover what is possible.
Interested in a Field Lab or planning to attend WindowFest? Join the interest list below and tell us how you'd like to participate.
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Interested in WindowFest 2026?
WindowFest & WindowLympics 2026 takes place
October 31–November 13 in Uvalde, Texas.
Tell us a little about yourself and how you'd like to participate.
We'll keep you informed as registration, schedules, competitions, and other details are released.