The Parksville Beach Festival Society is actively planning the 2013 Quality Foods Canadian Open Sand Sculpting Competition and Exhibition, and a theme has been chosen.
After gathering input through its website survey, the winning theme for this year's event is "Fairy Tales". Cheryl Dill, president of the Parksville Beach Festival Society, said the theme will allow for plenty of sculpting creativity.
"We may see dragons, princesses and castles emerging from the sand but expect the unexpected from these master sculptors," said Dill.
Set to run July 13-August 18 alongside Parksville's famous beach, the competition and exhibition will feature competitors in the category of soloists and new for 2013 will be doubles.
Event Manager Trish Smith said she receives applications annually from sculptors wishing to enter Parksville's competition as a team of two, but not until this year will the site allow for more sculptures.
"We are a qualifying event for the world championships, which features soloists and doubles, so it makes sense to have both of these groups featured in our event, " said Smith. She is currently working with Koers Engineering to redesign the layout of plots, which will feature more sculptures. Smith is recruiting sculptors from all over the world and will have sculptors confirmed by mid March.
Plans are also underway for a one-day amateur competition directly on Parksville beach. This is reminiscent of how the sand sculpting competitions and Parksville Beach Festival began in 1982, when teams competed against each other and the tide schedule.
— NEWS Staff/Beach Festival Society