Best Sand Sculpture Contests
We asked travel writer Stephen Jermanok to name the best summer sand sculpture events in New England.
No longer just a maze of turrets and drawbridges, sand sculpture has moved beyond sand castles to include sea creatures, nursery-rhyme characters, and more. We asked travel writer Stephen Jermanok to name the best summer sand sculpture events in New England, where invited artists, or preregistered kids and families in some cases, compete to collect prizes, and beachgoers get to survey the larger-than-life results.
Leading the season in 2010 is the biggest contest in the Northeast: New Hampshire’s Hampton Beach Master Sand Sculpting Competition (June 18-26, 2010). To see the results, visit Hampton in person, or online at hamptonbeach.org. “Watching someone painstakingly re-create Mother Goose out of a minivan-size chunk of sand is mesmerizing,” Jermanok says. “The memories will last a lifetime.”July 3, 2011Family Sand Sculpture Competition Ocean Park, Old Orchard Beach, ME 207-934-9068, 207-934-2500 oldorchardbeachmaine.comoceanpark.org
July 14-17, 2011New England Sand Sculpting Festival Revere Beach, MA 866-920-7263 reverebeachpartnership.com
August 6, 2011Sandblast Crane Beach, Ipswich, MA Phone: 978.356.4351 x4015 thetrustees.org
August 20, 2011Sandcastle & Sculpture Day Jetties Beach, Nantucket, MA 508-228-1700 nantucketchamber.org
Read more:Sandcastles Made Simple by Lucinda Wierenga (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2009; $10.95).
Tips and links:Sand castle tips