I was going through my folders to see what to post next when I came across a couple years of folders with the Hampton Beach NH Sand Sculpting competition images and it made me realize…I never saw anything about that this year. Normally held mid-June, this year would have been the 20th annual…so I got curious…would they cancel the 20th annual because of the virus? I know they recently opened the beach back up again though they changed the route in and out of town…long story!…well, turns out they have postponed it to late August-early September.
I didn’t make it up last year because of my sister’s health or the year before because I was in Canada but my friend “Thelma” and I had gone several years starting in 2011. One year we missed it for some reason but we ended up going to the competition at Revere Beach…we didn’t even know there was one at Revere Beach…we went there to eat at an ocean front restaurant and happened to discover the sand sculptures.
All of the images you are going to see are unedited from a really old camera and some taken on the phone. Since there is no real stories behind the days being posted I will try to limit the number of pictures to those over the years at both beaches that I feel are best.
I will say Hampton Beach is a great place to visit for the day if you are in southern New Hampshire…finding parking is often difficult so get there very early in the day or later in the day when the crowds have thinned. Plenty of beach to enjoy, plenty of square footage to walk or people watch, a lovely “boardwalk”, a pavilion for performances, the Hampton Beach Casino (which is not a casino) to see some great shows, restrooms and plenty of restaurants…and stores if you are into beach kitsch. And some of the best fried dough out there! Oh…and kites, very interesting and sometimes very large kites.
There is always a centerpiece on display. Typically on the first day when it all begins, 200 tons of sand are dumped…not regular beach sand…and 100 tons of it go to the “centerpiece” which highlights the sponsors of the competition. The image above is just a small example of the 2012 centerpiece. “Thelma” and I typically go up after all the sculpting is completed and judging has been done.
It boggles my mind the amount of detail that goes into these sculptures. I have always been curious what these artists do they other 358 days of the year. Interestingly, I have never goggled it and I google every curious thing that pops into my head. 🙂
So having said that I had never googled any of the artists to see what they do the rest of the year I had to google someone so I picked Greg Grady because he has been in every competition I have been to so his name stuck in my head. Turns out his father is one of the founders of the Hampton Beach competition. He does to do sculpting year round in sand, ice, snow, wood and pumpkins and competes around the world. He was the 5th place winner last year with a design called “Ask Seek Knock”…I also want to share the centerpiece for last years event…Both of these images are from the Hampton Beach Sand Sculpting page on Facebook…
Back to a few more from Hampton Beach and Revere Beach…
I hope you enjoyed a little peek into what I typically like to do on a summer day trip fairly close to home…a good sand sculpting competition at beautiful Hampton Beach New Hampshire!
Enjoy your summer!
Travel with KMG Photography 
Very enjoyable post with gorgeous art. In my country there is one town which presents every summer sand sculptures. Every year there is a new theme. In 2019, they presented the history of Lappeenranta. Here:
Sand sculptures 2019
After this post, there are links to all of my sand sculptures:
Have nice day!
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Those sand sculptures are incredible! Wow…great talent there! Thank you for sharing.
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