August 12th 2023
AIA Sandcastle Competition
Annual AIA Sandcastle Competition
Coming to Galveston Island
On August 12, 2023 Grab your buckets and shovels and come out for the annual AIA Sandcastle Competition on East Beach on Galveston Island! Well, you probably won’t need the shovel and bucket, but you can dream. Every year East Beach hosts some of the finest sand sculptors around in a competition for the best is several categories. The winners receive the prestigious Gold Bucket Award. Planning begins months in advance and on the day of the competition the teams are given five hours to complete their masterpiece.
Preparations Start at 6:30am
Material delivery begins at 6:30am for teams to get their sites set up and materials in place for the five-hour competition. Each team is given a designated area in which to sculpt, which is approximately 22 feet by 25 feet. All vehicles have to be off the beach by 9:00am. Then, at 10:00am, the competition begins and the buckets fly. Well, maybe not literally, but the sand might!
Each Team Has Their Own Designated Site
The teams are provided with approximately 15 cubic yards of sand within their site and are not allowed any additional sand. All sculptures must be made of sand and water only. They are not allowed to use any other materials, including any adhesives. The teams also must provide their own water carrying tools and may not utilize anything that runs on fossil fuels to transport water. As if this weren’t enough pressure, no professional sand sculptors will be allowed to participate on the day of the event. This is an amateur only competition.
Judging Categories
Categories for judging include the following:
- Golden Bucket
- Theme & Category
- Team Sign
Judging Guidelines
The following guidelines are used for judging each sculpture:
- Golden Bucket Judging: Originality of Theme, Artistic Execution of Concept, Technical Difficulty, Carving Technique, Utilization of Site
- Category Judging: Relation to Category, Carving Technique, Utilization of Site
- Team Sign Judging: Relation to Sculpture, Artistic Flair
- Sustainability Judging: Water System, Form Work, Recycling on Site, Bonus
- Team T-shirt Judging: Relation to Sculpture, Graphic Design
Theme Name & Category Form
Each team will also be required to submit the Theme Name & Category Form by the required deadline, which, if you’re in the competition, I’m sure you know.
Public Favorite Ballots
One of the best parts of the competition is we get to pick our favorite sculpture and vote for them to win the Sydney Lenoir Public Favorite Award. Ballots will be delivered to the teams at 1:00pm and must be turned in by 3:30pm. Only sign once as only one signature per individual will be counted.
Overall Awards
Each Team is automatically entered into each of the following Overall Awards:
- Golden Bucket (1st Place)
- Silver Shovel (2nd Place)
- Bronze Shovel (3rd Place)
- AIA College Challenge
- Team Signage
- Team T-Shirt
- Sydney Lenoir Public Favorite Award
- 811 Presents: Most Sustainable Team
Teams are ineligible for Theme Based Category awards if they receive the Golden Bucket, Silver Shovel, or Bronze Shovel.
All teams will receive a sustainable rating from a team of judges rating everything from water delivery systems to recycling efforts and formwork. The team with the highest score will receive an award.
Theme Base Categories
Each team is permitted to enter only one of the Theme Based Categories which are:
- Architectural Icon
- Traditional Castle
- Optical Illusions
- Texas Pride
- Pop Culture: Best of the 90’s
- Kidtastic!: Toy Box
We hope you will join us for this wonderful event and please remember to respect the hard work of the participants by not touching any of the sand sculptures at any time during or after the event. Many spectators visit the beach the next day to view and enjoy the sculptures.
Free and Open to the Public
This event is FREE and open to the public. Parking on East Beach is $15 and is Cash Only. There is no ATM so plan accordingly. Click here for information straight from AIA.
Sponsored By 811
This year’s event is sponsored by 811 Know what’s Below. Call 811 Before you Dig.
August 12, 2023
We can’t wait to see you on August 12th for a great AIA Sand Sculpting Competition!
*PLEASE NOTE: Rain or Shine?
