Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Bust Out Your Building Skills, It's Time for a Sandcastle Contest
()
Did you excel at building with Legos, Lincoln Logs, or K'nex when you were little? Got a team of buddies (or kids) that will let you boss them around for a couple of hours? If so, the Manhattan Beach Sand Castle Design Contest is where you need to be bright and early this Sunday morning.
It's the 52nd year the beachside city has hosted such a shindig, and we're certain that the contestants won't be constructing your average castle with pointy turrets and a hand-scooped moat. A life-sized alligator? Perhaps. A replica of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? Very likely.
Registration for the event begins tomorrow at 7:30am on the south side of the Manhattan Beach Pier; strut your stuff as a one-man team, or build in a group. All participants must be registered by the 8:00am start-time; building ends promptly at 10am. Judges will then wander around the creation collection and determine winners.
Builders can use the usual sand tools to aid them throughout the contest, such as buckets, cans, and small shovels. Banned tools include large shovels, bottles, and glass. All structures must be free-standing and can only be decorated with earth-friendly objects, like pebbles, shells, and stones.
Support for LAist comes from
A contest isn't a contest without prizes though, right? If you're getting down and dirty with the best of them, keep in mind that the judges will be looking for winners in three categories: Best Castle, Best Dribble, and Best Sculpture.
Best castle we get, but dribble and sculpture? These terms called for a little research. A structure with dribble is built by allowing very wet sand to drop from a hand or a tool into blobby, intricate piles. A sand sculpture is formed with wet sand at first, then detailed with small carving tools. Didn't know sandcastle building was this specialized, did you?
Whether you're assuming the role of builder or spectator, head on down below the pier to see what sprouts from some local imaginations. It sounds like painstaking work -- the winning pieces will definitely be a sight to see.
For more information, check out the City of Manhattan Beach's info page.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist