Alameda’s Sand Castle and Sculpture Contest has been going strong for 56 years, and the 2024 event was no exception. Robert Crown Memorial State Beach was bustling with sand architects and onlookers on Saturday, June 1. This year, there were 32 sand castle entries, 59 sand sculpture entries, and 415 total participants. Friends and families gathered in the sun and light wind to bring their visions to life using only sand and beach-found materials.
Registration began at 9 a.m. and building ceased at noon. Judging started promptly at noon and went until about 1 p.m., with the start of the awards ceremony. Sand castle and sculpture categories included ages 12 years and under, ages 13 years and over, and family. The judging criteria was broken down into four categories—design, detail, neatness, and technique.
Contestants Cari Hartigan and Devon Yee have been friends since they were babies. Their mothers were part of the same mom’s group. They and two other friends sculpted the “Fire Breathing Dragon” sculpture and took home the second place ribbon in the 13 and over category. They called themselves the Sand Stars.
“It’s an aquatic dragon,” said Hartigan. “It’s hanging out on the beach and protecting some rocks. We liked the idea of a dragon.”
Yee chimed in, “It’s a really fun event. It was just fun to see it all come together and see all the sand castles.”
Dragons are always a popular creature at the Sand Castle and Sculpture Contest. With 2024 being the Year of the Dragon, the mythical reptile seemed to be even more popular than usual. Contestant Neil Peralta was part of a group of three families who have made a tradition out of competing in the contest together. Their kids went to preschool together and, these days, it can be difficult to get together, he says. But they look forward to gathering in the early summer on Robert Crown Memorial State Beach to build a sand sculpture.
Fans of the pun, they were responsible for “Snailed It” last year. This year, their egg-protecting dragon was named “Eggciting.”
Peralta explained, “It was hard to figure out a pun for a dragon, so we added the eggs and we used Easter eggs to make the scales.”
There’s a bonus to the competition, he added. “My favorite part is just the camaraderie of our families. We don’t get to get together that often so it’s super nice,” Peralta said.
Brooke Atherton El-Amine was part of the competition with a group called Alameda Families and Friends for Ceasefire (AFF4C). “We like to do family-friendly activities that also bring what’s happening in Palestine into the conversation and into people’s minds,” she said. “So a few of us decided to join the sand castle competition so that we could be with our families and also lift up what it’s like for families living in Palestine. It’s hard for us to go on like normal right now when families in Gaza are facing unprecedented levels of death and destruction.”
The AFF4C sand art included a sculpture of Palestine and two doves, as well as the face of a woman inspired by Palestinian artist Mary Hazboun. Ten people total worked on the sculpture, ranging from ages 7 to 50. As the team built their piece and played in the sand, they handed out flyers to passersby and had discussions with fellow beachgoers about what is currently happening in Palestine.
Winners of “Sand Sculpture Best in Show,” Brandi Niedermeier, Heather Dunham, and Clay Rosenthal came to the beach the day before the competition to practice.
“It’s called a ‘Grave Situation,’” Niedermeier said of their creation. “We had the idea of doing sand zombies and as the time went on we just kept adding more and more zombies.”
Having previously won best in show twice and first place multiple times, Niedermeier is no stranger to the contest. But this was Dunham and Rosenthal’s first year.
“We loved it,” said Rosenthal. “I’ve never done anything like it. It was so much fun just to learn how to do it.”
The team says the trick to a neat, sturdy sculpture is getting mud from past where the waves break because it’s not mixed with shells. Apparently, having shells in the mixture will cause a sculpture to collapse as it’s built up. “The other trick is to build out and take away,” said Niedermeier. “So you make a sand wall and you scrape away what you don’t need.”
The best part, they agree, is watching the kids come by to “ooh” and “ahh” at what they’ve created.
2024 Sand Castle and Sculpture Contest Winners
Sand Castle Best of Show:
- Name: Patrick
- City: Oakland
- Title: “Dragon Encircling the Castle”
Sand Sculpture Best of Show:
- Name: Clay, Brandi, & Heather
- City: Oakland
- Title: “Grave Situation”
Sand Castle Ribbon Winners
12 & Under Category:
- 1st Place – Name & Plot: Castro Valley Brownie Troop
- City: Castro Valley
- 2nd Place – Name & Plot: Park Day Crew
- City: Oakland
- 3rd Place – Name & Plot: One Eyed Jack
- City: Oakland
13 & Over Category
- 1st Place – Name & Plot: Protective Dragon, Patrick
- City: Oakland
- 2nd Place – Name & Plot: Nest Attack Bad Beaches
- City: Oakland
- 3rd Place – Name & Plot: Rebirth, ARJO Family and Friends
- City: Alameda
Family Category
- 1st Place – Name & Plot: Small Minds, Big Mike – Mega Castle
- City: Alameda
- 2nd Place – Name & Plot: Stanton, Pacella, Sam – Turtle Castle
- City: Alameda
- 3rd Place – Name & Plot: McGrew & Saldona – Lost Temple
- City: Alameda
Sand Sculpture Ribbon Winners
12 & Under Category
- 1st Place – Name & Plot: Ella, Oliva, Lucy, Emi, Kailie, Elenor, Kenzie, Olivia, Nick – Crocks
- City: Alameda
- 2nd Place – Name & Plot: Alden, Annaliese, Lyly – Magic 8 Ball
- City: Alameda
- 3rd Place – Name & Plot: Kaiden, Teddy, Trajan, Titus, Kaison – Jawsome
- City: Alameda
13 & Over Category
- 1st Place – Name & Plot: Clay, Brandi, Heather – Grave Situation
- City: Oakland
- 2nd Place – Name & Plot: The Sand Stars – Fire Breathing Dragon
- City: Alameda
- 3rd Place – Name & Plot: Andy Otten – Frankenstein
- City: Shingle Springs
Family Category
- 1st Place – Name & Plot: Chen, Montgomery, Peralta – Eggciting
- City: Alameda
- 2nd Place – Name & Plot: Moo Family – Scary
- City: Foster City
- 3rd Place – Name & Plot: Mandros Bell – Large Panda
- City: Alameda
Kelsey Goeres is a contributing writer for the Alameda Post. Contact her via [email protected]. Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Kelsey-Goeres.
