High-end sand sculptures drawing tens of thousands of people are the highlight of the annual Parksville Beach Festival (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

sand sculpting

World-class sand sculptors get to work on Parksville’s waterfront

Jul 14, 2023 | 6:04 AM

PARKSVILLE — More than 100,000 people are expected to view this year’s creations as the annual Parksville Beach Festival gets underway at Parksville’s Community Park.

The Sand Sculpting Competition & Exhibition officially starts on Friday, July 14 with competitors beginning their quest to construct 29 sculptures (15 soloists and 14 doubles entries.)

Cheryl Dill, president of the Parksville Beach Festival Society, said this year’s theme should lead to some outstanding pieces of art.

“We selected Wonders of the World as a theme because it has been used in previous competitions and the sculptors really enjoyed that, but we haven’t had that theme here in Parksville.”

Competitors spent Thursday creating and filling forms with sand, packing in water and pounding the sand to create a desirable product to work with.

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The gates open on Friday at 2 p.m.

“All the paths are lined up so that viewers can navigate through the 22 sculptures and enjoy watching them carve and they use a variety of tools to carve their designs, it’s very fun to watch their technique,” Dill said.

Soloists are handed 10 yards of sand, while duo teams have 15 yards, Dill noted.

Competitors for this year’s event hail from Canada, the United States, Mexico, Poland, the Netherlands, Germany and Russia to participate in the event which has been going on since 1982.

“There’s no other sand sculpting event in this country of that length and the quality of sand sculpting right here in central Vancouver Island is of the highest in the world because we bring in professionals from all over the world.”

On Saturday and Sunday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., professional sand sculptors will be on-site teaching people how to properly build sand sculptures in a sand pit adjacent to the gated competition area.

An awards ceremony happens on-site on Sunday at 5 p. m.

The more than five-week-long Parksville Beach Festival Society will feature daily entertainment and performances at the Parksville Community Park.

A portion of donations accepted at the gate inside the sand sculpting competition zone goes to 25 volunteer ambassador groups.

More than $1 million has been donated to local organizations by the Parksville Beach Festival Society since 2000, including $75,000 donated last year.

Just over 150,000 people checked out the sand sculptures at last year’s Parksville Beach Festival.

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ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes