One of the reasons that we like the Long Beach Peninsula is the many festivals that are held all year long. Today was the first day of a festival that we hadn’t ever attended—the Sandsations Sand Castle Festival, also known as Sand in the City.
A few professional sand castle builders began setting up their forms on Wednesday, and continue building the sand creations on Thursday and Friday. This afternoon we checked out the activity, which took place on 3rd Street, next to the new Veterans Memorial Building. They closed off one block of the street and sand from the beach was hauled into the street.
Spraying water on the face:
Some of the other builders were not as far along with their creations. Yes, this is a woman sand castle builder.
And an older man just getting started.
Since I had my camera with me, I took a few additional pictures. The one below is of the gazebo on 3rd Street where musical entertainers perform on weekends during the summer.
Also on 3rd Street is a memorial to Lewis and Clark. The plaques in the background each mention one of the towns where Lewis and Clark stopped or passed through on their way to the Pacific Ocean.
I’m a sucker for anything relating to Lewis and Clark, so here a few pictures of my favorite places where they visited.
If you like sand castle festivals as much as I do, stay tuned for more pictures. On Saturday and Sunday the competition moves to the beach where amateur individuals and teams of all ages compete in different categories with their sand creations.
One of these years we will be in an area when one of the sand castle contests are happening. I also want to see a street chalk festival and baloon festivals. We just never seem to be in the right places. Perhaps I should start planning ahead for some.
ReplyDeleteFun stuff! I love sand sculptures, but I didn't know the sand was deposited on the street! What a clean-up headache that must be, but nice for the artists not to worry about the tide coming in to wash away their work.
ReplyDeleteJackie
We love sand castle building. We attended one in Oregon and it was awesome. I am just amazed at the vision these people see. I see sand; they see beauty!
ReplyDelete