Preparations are underway at a new location on Parksville's prized waterfront for the annual sand sculpting competition. (Angie Ooms)

By Ian Holmes

signature event

Relocated sand sculpting venue debuts in Parksville

Jul 10, 2025 | 5:36 AM

PARKSVILLE — A new era of sand sculpting has arrived in Parksville.

A new, enlarged and more accessible location behind the Parksville Curling Club debuts this year, as the Parksville Beach Festival Sand Sculpting Competition goes Friday, July 11 through Sunday, July 13.

Fourteen soloists and eight doubles teams are competing at the world class event, which will see the 22 creations remain standing for the duration of the Parksville Beach Festival running through mid-August.

Excited with the venue change away from the park’s epicentre, Parksville Beach Festival Society president Cheryl Dill said moving behind the curling club will mean fewer pedestrian and vehicular conflicts.

Overhead view of the new sand sculpting venue location on Parksville’s waterfront. (Google Maps)

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“People who enjoy walking along Parksville Community Park’s boardwalk alongside the ocean, or love to park in behind the curling club, can just have really simple, straight forward access to our site.”

Dill notes the new space allows room for potential future expansion.

Thirty Master sculptors from around the world are competing in Parksville this year, which has hosted a sand sculpting competition annually since 1982, with the exception of pandemic shutdowns in 2020 and 2021.

With sculptors from Canada, the United States, Colombia, Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere ready to compete, Dill said artists include doubles contender Delayne Corbett from B.C.’s interior.

He creates sculptures professionally out of various types of stone, ice, and snow among others.

She said Corbett, who produces life-like creations for the movie industry, represents the caliber of sculptors in Parksville over the next several days.

“That’s not unlike the other 29 sculptors, they carve ice, snow, sand, rock, you name it. This is their work, this is what they love to do, and you’ll see that in the designs this year.”

Mounds of sound are ready to be molded at Parksville Beach. (Angie Ooms)

Competitors are expected to spend a majority of Thursday pounding up their allotments of ten yards of specialty screened sand for soloists and 10 yards for the doubles category.

Forms will be used to pack sand to establish the structural integrity required for the competition, which begins as soon as artists are comfortable, Dill said.

This year’s sculptures are being produced under the Circus by the Sea theme.

Gates to the sand sculpting venue open to the public on Friday at 2 p.m.

“They do only have 30 hours to sculpt, so they’re very focused. But they like to take a break, grab a drink of water and answer a few questions that the public may have about what they’re doing, what their ideas are behind the creations,” Dill told NanaimoNewsNOW.

Awards will be issued on Sunday at 5:30 p.m.

The life-like sand sculptures will remain standing until Aug. 17, with daily viewing open starting on Monday, July 14 from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

A suggested donation of $5 is requested for entry into the sand sculpting venue, with partial proceeds benefiting local non-profit organizations who staff the annual beach festival.

Last year, nearly $81,000 was raised to benefit Oceanside area non-profit organizations, while 115,203 people entered the gates to view the sand sculptures in 2024.

Parksville Beach Festival includes various free and ticketed events throughout its duration, with additional details available here.

Manuel Campos of Colombia with his piece ‘The Guardian of Light’ won first place in the solo division at the 2024 Parksville Sand Sculpting Competition (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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