SANDCASTLE CONTEST MARKS END OF SUMMER
Each year at the AIA Houston Sandcastle Competition in Galveston, the “Most Epic Fail” award goes to the castle whose structural soundness gives out and crumbles while the crowd watches.
“Usually you can hear a collective groan up and down the beach” from the spectators who have for hours watched the construction of the castle before it collapses, says Rusty Bienvenue, executive director of The American Institute of Architects’ Houston chapter.
It’s all part of the good-natured competition, he says. This weekend’s family-friendly event expands to two days for the first time in its 33-year history.
On Saturday, 50 teams of professional architects will build elaborate sandcastles, which in recent years have reached as tall as two stories. Organizers expect about 25,000 spectators.
After the awards are handed out on Saturday, the Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau will spray the structures to preserve them overnight. This way, the public can see the sand structures on Sunday when crowds are thinner. Also new this year, local sandcastle-building expert Emerson Schreiner will host free lessons on Sunday. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own equipment.
In past years, the professionals’ entries have been shaped like the Parthenon, the Egyptian pyramids — complete with sand hieroglyphics — the Eiffel Tower, bridges and trains, massive dinosaurs, the Hogwarts School from “Harry Potter” and the set of the television series “Friends.”
On Saturday, families can stroll the beach to watch the construction and cast their vote for public favorite. The architecture firms hand out trinkets and swag to the kids, who Bienvenue says will recognize characters from movies, television, books and pop culture.
Outside of the top prizes — Gold Bucket, Silver Shovel and Bronze Shovel — the categories change each year. This weekend, teams will submit entries for Kidtastic: Fables & Folklore, Pop Culture: Decades, Geometric and Marine Life. Returning categories include Houston-centric and Traditional Castle.
Within their 22-foot sand plot, teams use only sand and water in their structures. Reinforcements are not allowed.
Last year, the architecture firm Kirksey won the grand prize for its submission, “Scarytales,” which explored scenarios of classic storybook tales turned sinister.
“Mother Seuss” by HKS Architects took home second place, themed around Mother Goose roaming the fantastical lands in Dr. Seuss books.
The firms work on their entries for months and, in some cases, years, Bienvenue says. In addition to drawings and paper plans, some teams make small, threedimensional mock structures of their castles in advance.
To make a day of the event, there are food trucks and snow cone vendors on-site.
Many families use the event as the traditional end of summer. “This is the last time that they’re going to get to go to the beach before they get mired down in the fall,” Bienvenue says.
The sandcastle competition is one of the largest annual revenue generators for Galveston, says Mary Beth Bassett of the Galveston CVB.
“We get a big Houston push for this event,” she says. Families who return year after year have high expectations for the sandcastles, she says, and are drawn to the high-energy atmosphere and the “healthy competition,” she says.