Alien SANDings at Ocean Beach!

Looking for a beach day? Before La Niña starts to bring rain over the Bay Area, head to Ocean Beach and support one of the Bay Area’s most exciting beachside events, the Sandcastle Classic! This weekend is set to be warm and sunny – the perfect weather to enjoy the beach and watch teams build impressive and enormous sandcastles, while supporting Bay Area schools. 

In its 42nd year, Leap’s event has grown to Northern California’s largest sandcastle competition, while supporting local Bay Area schools. Founded in 1979, Leap Arts in Education aims to provide high quality arts education programs to students across the Bay Area. Their residency programs currently serve over 8,500 students in 30 schools, helping build their confidence and prepare them for future success in and out of school. Their program focuses include architecture, creative writing, dance, music, theater, and visual arts. If you are interested in volunteering with Leap, sign up here. 

The Sandcastle Classic is especially important to Leap’s mission, as it contributes 30% of the costs needed to maintain and expand their educational programs. This year, they have a fundraising goal of $300,000 for the event. If you are interested in donating, you can donate to a specific team or the whole event here. 

This year’s theme is “Out of this World”, so teams will include space and alien inspired themes in their sand creations! Official teams are usually composed of architects, engineers, contractors, designers and corporations with help from local elementary students. Though the deadline to register has already passed, individuals can also walk in on the day of the competition without officially registering. 

You are also invited to watch the event live at Ocean Beach on Saturday, October 26. Check-in for builders begins at 8am on the morning of the event, and the official sandcastle competition begins at 11am with a live DJ onstage. Teams will build until 2:30pm at which point the competition’s judges will make their rounds, and the awards ceremony will happen from 3-3:30pm. The teams are competing for awards like “Best in Show,” “Best Team T-Shirt,” “People’s Choice Award,” “Tallest Structure,” “Best Teamwork”, and more! See more about the event here!