Ft Myers Beach Sand Sculpting Competition

November 21, 2015

We headed down to Ft Myers Beach on the scooter around 9 a.m. since the Sand Sculpting competition opened at 10.  We had to leave Sasha on the boat because it was too long a scooter ride for her, and we weren’t sure if dogs were allowed anyways (they were allowed).  The day was overcast, so it was a nice cool ride.  We found parking right across from the venue for $5, a deal since all the other parking we saw was at least $10.

Of course the event sign was a sand sculpture

There was also a large sculpture depicting the sponsors, which included Florida Tourism

If you ever go to a Sand Sculpting competition, be prepared to do other things in the area as well.  Some people might be totally entertained just watching the contestants work on their sculptures, but most people would have a better experience if they plan to spend a little time there and then check in on the progress in the course of their other activities.  This is particularly true for the Masters sculptures since they typically have several days to complete their entries.

Some sponsors had additional sculptures

Sculpture sponsored by the town of Ft Myers Beach

This competition is held right on the beach, so even though the event grounds are fenced off so that the organizers can charge admission, you could still plan to spend time on the beach as well as at the competition.  The recommended event parking was at a nearby state park with a free shuttle to the event itself, so you could also plan to spend time at the park as part of your day.

At the Sand Sculpting competition itself, a typical person could probably spend 2-3 hours there, watching the contestants at work, participating in the activities – such as the basic sand sculpting demonstration and Quick Sand competitions – and going through the vendor area.  The cost of the event was $10 per person per day, with discounted tickets for multiple day passes.  Since the competitions stretch over a week to allow time for competitors in the various categories to have time to complete their sculptures, a multiday pass would allow a person to come and go and see how the sculptures take shape over time.

First, we walked around and looked at both the amateur competitors and Masters competitors working on their sculptures.  I don’t know if the amateurs had any additional time before the event opened to start setting up their sand for sculpting, but they only had from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. to complete their sculptures.  Some of them looked like they were still setting things up while others seemed further along, so maybe it was just a matter of experience.

Some amateurs looked like they were just getting started

Amateur competitors could work singly or in pairs

Other amateurs were further along when we first walked through

The Masters competitors had been working on their sculptures for a couple of days already, but that time also included whatever work they had to do to set up the sand for sculpting.  Since the Masters competitors are considered to be experts in sculpting, their sculptures were much larger and more elaborate than the amateur sculptures.

Gator wrestling

Water is life

Music of the soul

This one was just so cool already

Look at the detail on the hands!

We were told that about 10 tons of sifted sand was provided in a pile for each contestant, but then contestants had to scoop the sand into their forms by hand.  All they use to prepare the sand is sand and water, so apparently all sand is not created equal for the purpose of sand sculpting.  Ft Myers Beach is fortunate enough to have the perfect type of sand:  relatively small square or rectangular crystals as opposed to larger or round crystals.  Square or rectangular crystals fit more tightly together than round crystals so there is not as much air space in the sand.  Since air or dryness is bad for holding sand sculptures together, the tighter the crystals fit together the better.  After completing parts of the sculptures, the contestants do spray a very thin glue/water mixture on them to seal the surface to help keep them from drying out as fast.  The mixture doesn’t add anything to the actual strength of the sand/water bond but can actually weaken it if there is too much glue in the mixture since that adds extra weight.  To keep birds from landing on the sculptures, thin wires are incorporated into the highest points.

Large smooth surfaces apparently have a high degree of difficulty

One of 2 sculptures of a wave

After looking at all of the sculptures in progress, we sat in on the end of a Sand Sculpting demonstration which was done by one of the event organizers.  He was a sculptor himself and did a very good job of explaining and demonstrating the basics in an entertaining fashion..  Once that was done, we had about an hour until the next Masters Quick Sand competition, so we walked out to the beach.  Since it was a fairly cloudy day there were still quite a few people out on the beach, but there weren’t many people in the water.  We walked along the water for a short distance and then went back to the event grounds.

Ft Myers Beach has a wide area of hard packed sand beach

Lots of people walking and sitting but not many swimmers

We had just enough time to walk through the vendor tents, and then we grabbed something to eat and took it to a table near the main stage, where the Quick Sand would take place.  For the Quick Sand competition, 2 prepared piles formed using 5 gallon buckets with the bottoms cut out were provided on rotating pedestals for the 2 contestants, and they could only use 3 tools of their own choice. The announcer went around and took suggestions from the audience for what they would sculpt so that they wouldn’t have any idea what it would be until it was time to start.  Once he had the audience member to announce the idea over the loudspeaker, the contestants had 10 minutes to complete a 360 degree sculpture.  Since it was a Masters competition, the announcer asked for a suggestion that would provide a challenge, so the idea he finally accepted was a ballerina in a tutu.

We had Crab Nachos and some BBQ for lunch

It was pretty cool to see how differently the 2 contestants sculpted the same concept, especially since they were pressed for time.  One sculptor was able to do a more graceful curved ballerina in a pose you might see during Swan Lake, while the other sculptor’s ballerina was more straight and blocky.  The audience then voted on which one it liked best – the more graceful one of course – and the winner advanced to the next stage in the Quick Sand competition, which would take place later in the week.  Rob said the winner had an advantage because she should have been more familiar with the subject matter, being a woman, but the guy she beat actually ended up taking 1^st place in the Masters Single competition, so he was just as qualified, I think.

We didn't get photos of the Quick Sand competition, but this is one of the contestants working on her entry for the Masters Single competition

The same sculpture about 3 hours later with more detail being added to the hermit crab

This was the eventual winner of the Masters Single Competition

Like I said before, large smooth surfaces are quite difficult to perfect so are impressive

After the Quick Sand competition, we walked around and looked at the sculptures again to see what kind of progress had been made in the few hours we were there.  Some of the amateur sculptures were very very good, but I guess you have to start small and then work your way up in order to qualify to compete at the Masters level.  It was sprinkling off and on, but we were told that since water actually helps to hold the sculptures together, a little rain doesn’t hurt them at all.

Sea horse

Castle

Frog Prince

Mermaid

Pirate lass

A 2nd Castle

Train engine

Mermaid with 3rd eye

For the Masters sculptures, since they still have another day to work on them before they are judged, I have put the early pictures and later pictures together so that you can see the progress easier.  It was a very interesting day.  I’d like to go back and see all the completed sculptures, including the upcoming Masters Doubles competition sculptures, but we will be leaving on Monday for Illinois, so I’ll just have to look at them online.

Amazing Walter typically sculpting elaborate castles

Arches are his specialty

Farmer maybe

vs the city?

Boys faces

He almost looks real!

Elaborate plants or columns?

There is still a small form in the center that will need to be sculpted

Time

Sands of time

Quite a bit of progress in 3 hours

War horse

The detail is amazing!

 To see the finished sculptures as well as other sculptures from the competition, check out this Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SandSculptingFestival.  You will need to scroll down to the November 23rd post to see the pictures from the Masters Single competition.