Galveston, Texas- Kick off your summer with giant sand castles and at the 30th Annual AIA SandCastle Competition on Galveston’s East Beach! The AIA SandCastle Competition should be at the top of your Texas Bucket List!
Teams of architects, designers, and engineers will descend on East Beach with their tools in hand for one of the world’s largest sand castle competitions on June 4, 2016. This year there will be over 60 teams will compete for the Golden Bucket Award at the AIA SandCastle Competition.
The AIA SandCastle Competition is a fund-raising event for AIA Houston and ArCH Foundation as well as one of the top five revenue generating events for the City of Galveston. Firms begin months in advance generating ideas, developing designs, and assigning duties. On the day of the event the teams, stretched along the beach front, meticulously sculpt their piles of sand and work non-stop for five hours.
The judging of the sculptures is rated on originality of concept, artistic execution, technical difficulty, carving technique, and utilization of the site. In addition to the Golden Bucket, awards are given in several categories including Best Traditional Castle, Best Architectural Icon, Kidtastic! – Disney Edition, Best Cinematic, Best Meme and Houston-centric as well as best team t-shirt design, best team signage, best costume, and public favorite. At the end of the day, everyone goes home with memories of a great day at the beach filled with fun, sand, and sun.
Event Day
6:30am Beach opens for teams and sponsors
9:00am Public is encouraged to begin to arrive to watch the competition.
10:00am – 3:00pm Teams compete and build.
1:00pm – 3:30pm Public favorite voting
3:00 – 4:30pm Judging
4:30pm Awards Ceremony
Parking
Parking at East Beach Galveston is $10 cash only collected by the Galveston Parks Board. There is no ATM. ADDITIONAL PARKING AND SHUTTLE BUSES WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM STEWART BEACH.
There is no Metro bus service, train line, or rapid transit to Galveston or the event. Carpooling is strongly recommended. Allow time for traffic and parking.
Picnic
Feel free to bring your own picnic: be sure to mind the City of Galveston’s rules and regulations governing East Beach. Visit galveston.com/beachparks or call 1.409.762.EAST for more information. Private team and sponsor tents are not open to the public.
Umbrella Rentals
Reserve your beach umbrella & chairs in advance by contacting Beach Buddies at 409.443.5103.
Pets
Please contact East Beach 1.409.762.EAST or visit galveston.com/beachparks with questions about beach rules regarding pets.
Sculptures
Please respect the hard work of our participants by not touching any of the sand sculptures even after the event. Many spectators visit the beach the next day, on Sunday, to view and enjoy the sculptures.