Nonprofit organizations Citizens Planning Association and the Citizens Planning Foundation of Santa Barbara County will present the 6th annual Santa Barbara Sandcastle Festival from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.
The event brings locals and out-of-town visitors to Santa Barbara’s East Beach, 1118 Cabrillo Blvd. in Santa Barbara, for a day of fun in the sun and appreciation of Santa Barbara’s natural resources.
Teams of up to 10 people each and of all skill levels will compete in a sandcastle contest, building all sorts of creative castles and sculptures from sand. While competitors busily build their sand creations along the water line, the festival’s stage will offer live musical entertainment throughout the day as festival goers peruse vendor booths and the festival’s younger attendees busy themselves searching for goodies at Captain Planner’s Treasure Hunt, enjoying a bouncy house and bouncy obstacle course, and getting creative making sand candles.
Trophies and prizes will be awarded to the top teams (as judged by the festival’s official judges) in the following categories: sandcastle; sand cculpture; mixed castle and sculpture; and sixth-grade and under with no adult help. There will also be a “People’s Choice” award presented to the team deemed by festival-goers (via ballot submission) to have created the best overall creation.
Festival admission is free. Registration to compete in the sandcastle contest is $25 to $75. Check-in and registration runs from 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.; the contest goes from noon to 3 p.m.
Click here for more information, or e-mail citizensplanning@gmail.com or call 805.966-3979.
Naomi Kovacs is executive director of the Citizens Planning Association & Foundation.