Close to One Million Visitors are Expected at Sand Sculpting Festival This Weekend

The Sand Sculpting Festival on Revere Beach that just keeps growing every year is expected to attract almost one million visitors over the three day-long event under predicted perfect summer skies.

This year’s  Festival is set for July 26-28 and will be out of this world, as the 2019 Revere Beach Partnership’s (RBP) 16th International Sand Sculpting Festival celebrates the 50th landing of Apollo 11 on the moon.

“The International Sand Sculpting Festival shines a bright light on our country’s first public beach” said Mayor Brian Arrigo. “We can’t wait to showcase all our city has to offer and welcome people from all over the world to this summer tradition.”

America’s First Beach is an appropriate landing pad for the moon’s first step, everything to the moon and back will be carved out of finely tuned, crushed granite  sand trucked in from Hudson, N.H. which was delivered to the beach last week.

A Florida company called Sanding Ovations is the sand sculpture organizer, with Meredith Corson-Doubleday and her husband Dan at the helm, with lots of other master sculptors from around the world pitching in. It was Dan Doubleday who developed the sand sculpting technique that is used today.

“A key component is the sand,” he said adding, “ regular beach sand wouldn’t work because of the ocean’s movement over the grain. The grains can’t hold together because they are little spheres. The crushed granite under a microscope are tiny little rods grabbing on to each other.”

RBP is also introducing an amazing display of drones Friday night to dazzle the crowds. The Drone Light Show Company of California will put on a show at the main stage at dusk as part of a small pyrotechnics show. Zipping around will be 150 drones with laser lights timed to music from the 1960s for 15 minutes.

“The show is based on the moon landing,” said Adam Beniot, the RBP events coordinator.

“This year’s theme is the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. I can’t wait to see what our master sculptors come up with,” said John Hamel, a director on the Revere Beach Partnership Board.

“There will also be a montage in the main sculpture showing John F. Kennedy, Walter Cronkite and others who were there,” Beniot said.

The actual date of the moon landing was July 20, 1969.

Get ready to also see the premier sand-sculpture  featuring a family watching the moon landing on television, the Apollo rockets and the lunar lander, and special topping of the sculpture with the astronauts planting flags.

No doubt astronauts Neil Armstong, “One small step for man one giant leap for mankind,” Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins will be featured throughout festival.

Winners of the master sculptures will be announced at 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

The amateur competition starts on Sunday there will be a live demonstration from a master sculptor. Other master sculptors will also offer tips as the amateur competition goes on. The top three amateur teams out of 30 take home part of a pool prize valued at up to $2,000.

Friday

Festival Opens – 10 a.m.

Live Music from Radio Roulette – 10 a.m.

Sand Sculpting Competition Ends – 5 p.m.

Welcoming ceremony – 5:45 p.m. p.m. – Main Stage Revere Beach Blvd.

Live music from World Premiere Band – 6-9 p.m.

Pyrotechnics Show – 9 p.m. – at Centerpiece Sculpture

Festival closes at 10 p.m.

Saturday

Festival opens at 10 a.m.

Live Music from Decades of Rock 10 a.m.-12 noon

New England Aquarium/DCR Kid’s Zone 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Live Music from Smokin Joe & the Henchmen 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.

Sculpting Competition ends at 2 p.m.

People’s Choice Voting – 2-4 p.m.

Live Music from DC Project -4-6 p.m.

Awards Ceremony – 6:30 p.m.

Live Music from Mike Rollins & Co. featuring Lisa Bello

Fireworks – 9 p.m.

Festival closes at 10 p.m.

Sunday

Festival opens 10 a.m.

Live Sand Sculpting Demonstration and Lessons 10:30 a.m.

Revere Beach Team Amateur Sand Sculpting Competition from 11 a.m. –2 p.m.

Live Music from Soul Revival Orchestra 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Revere Beach Team Amateur Sand Sculpting Awards – 2:30 p.m.

Live Music from the MSF Band 2- 4 p.m.

Live Music from Richie Rich & the 24K Funk 5 -7 p.m.

Festival Closes 8 p.m.

This year’s competition will be one that you will not forget! Get ready to come on down to America’s First Public Beach to enjoy the magnificent sand sculpting competition, delicious eats from our Food Trucks and Vendors, and amusements and fun for the whole family!