Sculpting Fun — Annual Sand Sculpting Festival kicks off Friday
The 29th Annual American Sandsculpting Championship, presented by the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce, begins Friday, Nov. 20, and runs through the following Sunday.
The 10-day event, which is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, will be held in front of the Wyndham Garden Hotel at 6890 Estero Blvd. in Fort Myers Beach.
Already hyped as one of the best sand sculpting events in the world, this year’s festivities are expected to be even better than ever.
“It’s going to be a great event, said Fort Myers Beach Area Chamber President Bud Nocera. “We’ve got at least 16 international sculptors coming in and we’ll have at least 40 sculptures on display.”
Competitors from all over the United States, as well as countries like the Netherlands and Portugal, will face off in several master solo and doubles sand sculpting contests. Attendees can also witness several advanced amateur contests as well.
In contrast to previous years, standing water shouldn’t be an issue for competitors and attendees.
“We’ve been able to bring in 40 tons of sand to fill in the low areas and help with that standing water issue so that’s a big improvement over previous years,” the chamber president said. “We’ve also made some more structural changes.”
Also, event goers also won’t have to worry about navigating around road construction to get to the festival. Fort Myers Beach Mayor Anita Cereceda recently assured organizers construction will be shut down during that timeframe.
For the fourth year in a row, professional sand sculptor Marianne Knight is helping to coordinate the event with the chamber.
Knight, who’s been a professional sand sculptor since 2001, said one of the neat features about this year’s festival is there will actually be fully completed sand sculptures that people can view once gates open on Friday morning.
Knight added there are several additional twists on some of the activities from previous years.
“There’s going to be a lot more 3-D,” Knight said. “There’s more sand sculpting lessons and demos. There are also more kids activities inside the event. There’s something for everybody and we’ve made it so there’s something for any age.”
While much of the attention will be focused on the competitions and activities, there will also be live music sets from Canadian recording artists Steve Hill and Nick Beauregard.
The festival has expanded significantly from the time when it was just a three-day event.
“It’s grown quite drastically as far attendance, as far as the number of competing sand sculptors, activities and things going on during the event,” Knight said. “We’ve combined other things going on to keep people entertained. And we’ve expanded the advanced amateur competitions.”
Depending on the weather, anywhere from 40,000 to 60,000 tourists and residents are expected to attend.
“Bringing all those people to Fort Myers Beach for those ten days has got to have a good economic impact on the island,” Nocera said. “We’ve sought to improve it every year and make it a better experience for the attendees.”
Even with all the organized activities, demos and live music, admission is just $5.
“There’s stuff going on all day, so for five bucks, you can’t go anywhere, spend five bucks and be entertained all day like you can here,” Knight said. “It’s also a great location.”
For additional information about the event, visit FMBSandsculpting.com. Organizers are seeking volunteers to work a four-hour shift during the event. If you’d like to help out, please call the Chamber at 239-454-7500.