A few new things are already being unveiled concerning this year’s upcoming 2015 International Sand Sculpting Festival on Revere Beach.
First and foremost is that the name has changed from a ‘National’ festival to an ‘International’ festival, and with 14 sculptors hailing from foreign countries as far away as Australia, such a name change isn’t a stretch.
The festival – Revere’s most popular local event – will take place from Friday, July 24 to Sunday, July 26, on Revere Beach.
This week, the Revere Beach Partnership announced that the 12th annual festival would carry the theme of ‘The Spirit of Massachusetts.’ That will mean that the centerpiece sculpture, a focal point of the sandsculpting portion of the festival, will showcase several signature landmarks of the state. Those Massachusetts landmarks will be combined into one large sculpture.
Another major innovation added this year to the Sandsculpting competition is a new doubles division.
This year, there will be the traditional solo competition, but there will now also be a doubles competition as well.
Doubles teams will be: Abe Waterman from Prince Edward Island and Morgan Rudluff from California; Steve Topazio from Rhode Island and Matt Long from New York; Ilya Filmonstev from Russia and David Ducharme from British Columbia; Susanne Ruseler from the Netherlands and Hanneke Supply, also from the Netherlands; Kevin Crawford from Australia and Leonardo Ugilini from Italy.
The solo competition will bring back several familiar faces, and will feature multiple-time champion Jonathan ‘Jobi’ Bouchard once again.
Solo competitors will be: Melineige Beauregard from Montreal, Dan Belcher from Missouri, Jonathan ‘Jobi’ Bouchard from Montreal, Enguerrand David from Belgium, Dan Doubleday from Florida, Marielle Heessels from the Netherlands, Sue McGrew from Washington, Pavel Mylnikov from Moscow, Guy Olivier/Deveau from Quebec, and Benjamin Probanza from Acapulco, Mexico.
Those planning to attend the festival can enter for a chance to win two tickets to the Saturday evening VIP dinner and two front row seats to the fireworks display Saturday night simply by visiting www.internationalsandsculptingfestival.com and donating $25 to the Revere Beach Partnership.
Hours for the 2015 Revere Beach International Sand Sculpting Festival on Friday, July 24 and Saturday, July 25 run from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 26. Admission is free and open to the public. It is recommended to use the MBTA to and from this event. The MBTA Blue Line can be taken to Wonderland or Revere Beach stations. Free parking and shuttle service to the T will be available at Suffolk Downs. Parking is also available at Wonderland Garage. For more information about the event and sponsorship opportunities, please visit www.internationalsandsculptingfestival.com or call 781-902-9742.
