Sand Bash sculpts, entertains all weekend
Starting tomorrow (Thursday, March 31) and lasting throughout the weekend, anyone who enjoys a festival-style family event is welcome to venture down to the sandy beachfront at Holiday Inn on Fort Myers Beach
Sand Bash offers a non-qualifying doubles sand-sculpting competition coupled with live entertainment and children’s activities at the 6890 Estero Blvd. location.
The event is the creation of Big C Events President Jason Camp, who has partnered with Pincher’s Crab Shack Operating Director Grant Phelan (also Big C Events’ chief operating officer), Holiday Inn Owner John Callis, Bonnie Roberts Events’ Bonnie Roberts, Sand Lubbers’ Bill Knight and Brian Wigelsworth and at least five Kiwanis organizations (Beach Kiwanis included) to form a formidable combination of event management/ marketing and advertising; food and beverage; venue; vendors; sand management/ sand artist relationship; and volunteers.
For sand sculpting enthusiasts, Sand Bash will feature nine tandem teams comprised of some of the world’s best Master Sculptors and 10 sand sculptures in all. According to its website (www.sandbash.com), the average carving will be more than two-stories tall with 400 square feet at its base. Camp said there is a $10,000 purse involved in the competition part of Sand Bash.
There will be daily sand sculpting demonstrations by Sand Lubbers as well as evening “quick sand” (10-minute creation) competitions and exhibit sculptures (finished pieces as well as works in progress) to entice those who would like to see a finished product.
For music lovers, Sand Bash offers live entertainment for much of the Thursday through Sunday format. One can expect to hear musical bands performing from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day. When there’s a break in live music, a disc jockey will spin tunes and make announcements.
For children, Sand Bash will have a kid’s activity center with bounce houses, water slides and other fun things to do. A $10 wristband is available for all-day activities. All proceeds (100%) from the fee go to the local Kiwanis programs. The Kiwanis Kids Club will run the center.
For shoppers and nourishment, Sand Bash will have a Vendor Village that feature more than 50 vendors offering a great selection of food, beverages, specialty retail and arts & crafts. A custom-made Pirate Bar of sand will be set up so that you can get your cold beverages, and one can also purchase custom-designed photographs by a sculpture.
Although the beach is open to the public at no cost, a fee is being charged for a close-up view of the Master sand sculptures, live music, demos/lessons and more. Wristband admission includes an $8 fee per day for adult, $5 for age 6-17, $5 for seniors over age 55 and free for children under age 5. Discounted four-day passes are $20 for adults and $16 for kids and seniors.
“I think no matter if your age 3 to 100 there will be a lot of different activities for good, fun family entertainment,” said Camp. “Not only will there be incredible masterpieces created Thursday through Sunday, there will always be finished works of art and plenty of good food and drink.”
The weather forecast calls for plenty of sun, which means plenty of fun.
“We want to give people something fun to do with live music all day long and masterpieces for them to view and a lot of kids’ activities,” said Camp. “The hotels are sold out and the condos are packed.”
Organizers have set up a free public transport system to ease the usual traffic and parking concerns involved during tourist season. One can park at Lover’s Key and take the free shuttles to the event.
“We have twice as many shuttles as other events with the same scope in the past,” said Camp. “We’d rather invest in a quality experience and make sure everybody who is coming out to the event is not restricted by delays. We also have auxiliary parking at the corner of U.S. 41 and Bonita Beach Road where people can hop onto the Lee County Tran and head to the Holiday Inn.”
Camp hopes to see many islanders at this island community event.
“Eighty percent of our marketing advertising focus is to the Beach itself. There are plenty of people here during that time to make it a successful event. We are really concentrating on the foot traffic, people who can bike there and take the Beach trolley.”
Proceeds from the event goes to the Kiwanis organizations, which will act as the main volunteers for the event. Go to www.sandbash.com for more information.
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Master Sculptor teams
Fred Mallet of Port Aransas, Texas and Sean Fitzpatrick of Boston, Mass.;
Matt Deibert of Smithville, N.J. and John Gowdy of Italy;
Greg Grady of Hampton Beach, N.H. and Steve Topazio of Tiverton, R.I.;
Christy MacDonald and “Amazing” Walter MacDonald of South Padre Island, Texas;
Carl Jara of Cleveland, Ohio and Suzanne Altamare of Daytona Beach;
Bill Dow of Billings, Mont. and Jeff Strong of Tacoma, Wash.;
Sandis Konrats of Latvia and Charlie Beaulieu of Kingston, Wash.;
Joris Kivts of the Netherlands and Bouke Atema of the Netherlands;
Rob Toby of Orlando and Guy-Olivier Deveau of Canada.
*Non-competing Master Sculptors include Bill Knight of Fort Myers; Brian Wigelsworth of Siesta Key; Andy Hancock of South Padre Island, Texas; and Ky Terrell of Galveston, Texas.
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Sand Bash
Schedule including music line-up
(event open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.)
n Thursday March 31
9 am – 5 pm: Master sculptors competition sculptures (viewing area open to the public)
9-11 am – Oldies / Beach DJ – “Justin Case”
11 am, 1 pm and 3 pm, 5 pm – Free sand sculpting Demonstrations/Lessons for all ages courtesy of Sand Lubbers “Sandvertising Agency”.
11 am-2 pm – Steel Band “Jay Roberts”
2-4 pm – DJ Music / Announcements / Demos
4-6 pm – Beach DJ – “Gentry Thomas”
6-9 pm: “Meet the Sculptors” reception at the Fort Myers Beach Holiday Inn Tiki Bar (event sponsors only)
6-9 pm – “Yaad Music” Reggae
n Friday April 1
9 am – 5 pm: Second day of carving of master sculptors’ competition sculptures (sculpture viewing area open to the public)
9 am – 5 pm Vendor Village – local vendors offering a great selection of food, beverages, specialty retail and arts & crafts
9-10 am – DJ “Jay Yandle”
10 am -1 pm – “Yaad Music” (reggae)
11 am, 1 pm, 3 pm, 5 pm – Free sand sculpting Demonstrations/Lessons for all ages courtesy of Sand Lubbers “Sandvertising Agency”
2-5 pm – “Acoustic Addiction”
5-6 pm – “Casey Weston”
6-9 pm – “Deb and the Dynamics”
7 pm – “Quick Sand Competition”
8 pm – Flying Colors with John Gowdy
n Saturday April 2
9 am – 5 pm: Third day of carving of master sculptors’ competition sculptures (sculpture viewing area open to the public)
9 am – 5 pm Vendor Village – local vendors offering a great selection of food, beverages, specialty retail and arts & crafts
9 am – noon – “Beadniks”
11 am, 1 pm, 3 pm, 5 pm – Free sand sculpting Demonstrations/Lessons for all ages courtesy of Sand Lubbers “Sandvertising Agency.
Noon – 1 pm – Oldies / Beach DJ
1-3 pm – “The Cracker Blues Band”
3-6 pm – “Paul Gecko”
6-9 pm – The Land Sharks
7 pm – “Quick Sand Competition”
8 pm – Flying Colors with John Gowdy
n Sunday April 3
9 am – noon: Final day of carving of master sculptors’ competition sculptures (sculpture viewing area open to the public)
9 am – 5 pm Vendor Village – local vendors offering a great selection of food, beverages, specialty retail and arts & crafts
9-11 am – Sublime DJ – “Deron Harris”
11 am – Free sand sculpting Demonstrations/Lessons for all ages courtesy of
Sand Lubbers “Sandvertising Agency.
11am-1pm – “Mike Imbasciani”
1-2 pm – Judging of master sculptures by celebrity panel of judges
2-5 pm – “The Dazzling Delray’s”
2-3 pm Awards ceremony
3-5 pm Meet the sculptors at their masterpieces