We stopped by Siesta Key yesterday to take  a look at the The Siesta Key Crystal Classic International Sand Sculpting Festival.   This festival, held every year since 2010, pits master sculptors from around the US and abroad to compete for $15,000 is prizes.  The sculptures that create are truly amazing, and its well worth the trip to the beach to check it out.

I’d love to report that we rode our trikes out to Siesta Key, but sadly we actually drove there.  But we should have taken the bikes, because traffic getting to Siesta Key was terrible, and parking at the beach was a nightmare.    This was on Monday, after all the main event activities had ended and most folks had packed up and left.  Getting to this thing over the weekend when the festival was in full swing would be really nuts.  There are options for parking off-site and getting a shuttle to/from the beach – but we didn’t think of that.

Once we got parked, it was a short walk to the entrance.  The Festival charges $6/person for the privilege of looking at the sand sculptures.  This seems like a lot, but I didn’t mind so much, since the money goes to a good causes, such as The Mote Marine Laboratory and the Sarasota Department of Parks and Recreation.

The Crystal Classic has become a favorite of the professional sand sculptors who compete here. Citing the beauty and cleanliness of the pristine white sand, sculptors have remarked that their sculptures look almost as if they were “carved in marble.”

It turns out (I had no idea) that many sand sculpting competitions are held every year all around the world, and it’s possible for the very best sculptors to actually earn a living building sand castles.  What kind of life would that be?  “Geeze – I gotta go to the beach and build another sandcastle today.  Man, I really need a day off!”    How can I get into this line of work?

There are sand sculpture competitions every year near here – a big one in Ft. Meyers is coming up in just a few weeks, so if you missed Siesta Key, you can get down and check that one out.  It is the US Championships.  There are famous sand castle building competitions every year in California, Virginia, New Jersey, Hawaii and even Japan.  There is a regular sandcastle contest circuit that many of the sculptors travel.

There is an obvious imaginative and artistic aspect of creating these masterworks.  But there is also some science.  Getting exactly the correct ratio of water to sand is really important to make a sculpture stand up tall.  And not all sand is created equal –  sand from most beaches has round edges from being worn down by waves.  But sand formed by glaciers—giant, moving masses of ice that grind rock into tiny bits  – has sharp edges. When grains of this sand are packed together, their rough edges rub against each other. This creates friction that helps hold up a sand structure. Smoother beach sand has less friction.  Many sand sculptors bring their own special sand to the competitions and use it in critical portions of their sculptures.  Often the source of their private sand is a closely guarded professional secret.

Regardless of how they do it – you have to admit that the structures they create are both beautiful and impressive.  We thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent  looking at them.