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Sandcastles level up at annual building competition in San Francisco

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  Published in Sports and Competition on Saturday, October 25th 2025 at 21:43 GMT by Associated Press
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Sandcastles Take Center Stage at San Francisco’s Annual Building Competition

The shimmering tide of San Francisco’s famous beaches may have been the backdrop, but the true star of the city’s latest summer celebration was not the ocean itself—rather, a sprawling arena of sand, imagination, and competition. Last Saturday, the annual “Sandcastle Competition” drew more than 70 teams of builders, volunteers, and art lovers to a sun‑drenched shoreline in San Francisco’s Mission Bay district. The event, organized by the city’s Arts Commission in partnership with the San Francisco Port Authority and the California State Parks Service, re‑imagined the classic sandcastle contest as a showcase of engineering, environmental stewardship, and community collaboration.

A New Era for an Old Tradition

While sand sculptures have long been a staple of California beach culture, the 2025 competition introduced several firsts. A new “Eco‑Design” category required teams to use only reclaimed or biodegradable materials in addition to the sand itself. A second “Tech‑Integration” segment invited participants to incorporate interactive elements—LED lights, motion sensors, and even simple mechanical devices—into their builds. The overarching theme for this year, “Building for the Future,” echoed the city’s broader sustainability agenda, linking artistic expression with concrete environmental goals.

According to the competition’s website, which the organizers launched in October, the event is now in its seventh year and has expanded from a 48‑hour “marathon” style contest into a multi‑day festival. The updated format includes a pre‑competition workshop series for participants, a “design‑and‑build” phase that lasts three full days, and a public viewing period that runs from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. each day. Local schools, community groups, and even high‑school art clubs were encouraged to register and participate.

From Concept to Creation

The competition began early on a brisk Saturday morning with a keynote address from San Francisco Mayor London Breed. Breed emphasized the role of art in fostering civic pride and resilience. “When we build something out of sand, we’re not just creating a sculpture; we’re building a story, a community, a sense of place,” she said, before inviting the first team to break ground.

Teams ranged from professional sculptors—many of whom have displayed work in galleries across the Bay—to informal groups of friends and neighborhood families. The most ambitious projects included a 30‑foot‑tall “Golden Gate Tower,” an intricately carved “Seaglass City” that used translucent seashells to cast shifting light, and a kinetic “Wave‑Engine” that rolled along the shoreline using a simple pulley system powered by a nearby wind turbine.

The “Eco‑Design” entries were particularly notable. One group repurposed old surfboards and plastic bottles to construct a “Reclaimed Reef,” while another used compostable polylactic acid (PLA) foam to form a towering “Greenhouse Castle.” Judges noted that such projects demonstrated a deep understanding of material science and environmental impact, rewarding teams for both aesthetic appeal and technical innovation.

Judging the Masterpieces

A panel of nine judges—drawn from the San Francisco Arts Commission, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), local architects, and a community activist—evaluated each entry on four criteria: creativity, construction technique, sustainability, and community engagement. In an era where public art often serves as a catalyst for civic discussion, the competition’s “community engagement” rubric encouraged teams to involve local volunteers, conduct workshops for children, and promote beach cleanup initiatives alongside their builds.

After three days of intensive labor, judges convened at the competition’s central pavilion to deliberate. The “Golden Gate Tower” took the top prize in the overall category, earning a $5,000 grant to support the team’s next year’s entry. The “Reclaimed Reef” secured first place in the Eco‑Design category, receiving an additional $3,000 in sustainable building materials from the San Francisco Port Authority’s Green Initiative Fund. The “Wave‑Engine” was awarded the Innovation Prize, a $2,500 award that will go toward developing a prototype for an educational robotics kit.

Community Impact and Future Outlook

Beyond the competition itself, the event spurred a wave of community activity. The San Francisco Department of Parks and Recreation reported that more than 2,000 volunteers participated in beach clean‑ups during the festival weekend. Meanwhile, local businesses benefited from increased foot traffic, with food trucks, art vendors, and pop‑up galleries filling the beachfront promenade.

The organizers, led by Arts Commission Chair Lisa Morales, expressed enthusiasm about the competition’s continued growth. Morales highlighted the collaboration with the California State Parks Service, which has already committed to expanding the competition’s reach to other Bay Area beaches next year. “Our goal is to make art accessible, to inspire the next generation of designers, and to reinforce our city’s commitment to environmental stewardship,” she said.

The competition’s official website now features a photo gallery and a series of short documentaries on each winning team’s process. The filmmakers captured not only the awe‑inspiring structures but also the stories of the people who built them—students juggling coursework and sand, retirees who rediscovered their creative passions, and families who saw a chance to bond over a shared project.

As the tide receded and the last of the sand structures crumbled under the sun, the people of San Francisco stood together, proud of a moment that fused art, science, and community in a way few other events could. The 2025 Sandcastle Competition proved that even a handful of grains of sand, when guided by imagination and purpose, can create lasting ripples—both literally and figuratively—across the city’s cultural and environmental landscapes.