Sandcastles - Tips and Contests

Tip: Life is short - play in the sand.

Building sandcastles is something that can be done by people of all ages. The tools and complexity vary by age but even the smallest child can be proud of their castle.

Yes, there are professionals who travel from beach to beach participating in contests. The top contests can have prizes ranging into the ten’s of thousands of dollars and are truly a spectacle to behold. Following are some of the top contests. They are not listed in ranking order and all of them display outstanding work by some of the countries best sand sculptors.

If you would like to play with an online program that lets you build sand castles, click on the Beaches logo and then look for the Build a Sandcastle section on the bottom of the page.

Long Beach, Washington - July 17 & 18, 2009

This event is called the Sandsations Sandcastle Competition and takes place on the Long Beach peninsula. In addition to the competition there is the Sand Flea Pet Parade. www.funbeach.com_________________________________________________________________

Parksville, British Columbia

Parksville Beach Festival and Sandsculpting Competition and Exhibition

Parksville, BC August 7 - 30, 2009

Last year over 60,000 people visited this outstanding event. The event dates back to 1982 and keeps

getting better and better. Visitors and professional/master level sculptors come from around the globe

to this truly international event in beautiful British Columbia.

Parksville Beach Festival

Beach Festival_________________________________________________________________

Cannon Beach, Oregon

Sandcastle Day began in 1964 and is one of the largest sand building contests on the west coast. www.cannonbeach.org_________________________________________________________________

Point Reyes National Seashore, California

This event is held over Labor Day weekend and is a strictly amateur event. It’s held at Drakes Beach which is about an hour north of San Francisco. sandsculpturecontest_________________________________________________________________

Imperial Beach, California

The U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition brings in the top professional sand carvers each year. www.usopensandcastle.com_________________________________________________________________

South Padre Island, Texas

Sand Castle Days draws the professionals known as the “Masters of Sand”. In addition to the contest the Masters provide free sand-castle lessons www.sandcastledays.com_________________________________________________________________

Galveston, Texas

The AIA Sandcastle Competition has teams consisting of architects, designers, engineers, and contractors. The event takes place at East Beach on the tip of Galveston Island. www.aiasandcastle.com_________________________________________________________________

Fort Myers Beach, Florida

“The World’s Safest Beach” becomes a fantasyland during the amazing The American Sandsculpting Championship Festival is held on what is called the Worlds Safest Beach. The professionals conduct a “Sandsculpting 101” session www.sandfestival.com_________________________________________________________________

Virginia Beach, Virginia

The North American Sandsculpting Championships held as part of the Neptune Festival. www.neptunefestival.com_________________________________________________________________

Hampton Beach, New Hampshire

This is an invitation only event for the Masters of Sand Sculpting. www.hamptonbeach.org

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Long Beach, CA

In August, 2008 the 75th Annual Great Sand Sculpture Contest was held. This is one of the largest competitions in Southern California and boasts sculptures from some of the top professionals. To see more information on this event Click Here