Today the Manitowoc Sunrise Rotary and Visit Manitowoc announced that they are partnering to host the Wisconsin Sand Sculpting Festival at Red Arrow Park Beach in Manitowoc July 14-16.
The Wisconsin Sand Sculpting Festival is the only one of its kind in the entire state of Wisconsin. A three-day event, this unique festival kicks off on Friday with 10 competitive semi-pro sand sculptors beginning to construct their sculptures. An award ceremony will conclude the weekend on Sunday afternoon. Throughout the weekend, attendees can watch and chat with competing sculptors in action, participate in hands-on amateur competitions, and watch sand sculpting demonstrations and speed sculpting shows. In addition, there will be an entertainment tent featuring a variety of live performances, food trucks, cold drinks, and vendor booths.
“Positioned along the shores of Lake Michigan, Manitowoc is a premier travel destination with beautiful sandy beaches. We are so excited to bring thousands of people to our community to experience our beachfront and so much more for such a unique, family-friendly festival,” said Courtney Hansen, Visit Manitowoc’s Director of Tourism. “The entire Visit Manitowoc team is counting down the days until Red Arrow Park Beach is dotted with massive works of art this summer!”
“We are ecstatic to partner with Visit Manitowoc to bring an event of this magnitude to Manitowoc. Our chapter has full confidence in them and the ground work they’ve already laid for this event. We couldn’t do it without them,” said Paul Roekle, President of Manitowoc’s Sunrise Rotary. “Our organization knows that what we’re doing together is so good for our community.”
The Sunrise Rotary and Visit Manitowoc are working closely with professional master sand sculptors and owners of The Sand Lovers, Bill and Marianne Knight, to make this event possible. The Sand Lovers have a long history of managing major sand sculpting events nationwide. Their events currently include the Blue Water Sand Fest in Port Huron, Michigan, Singing Sands Sand Sculpting Festival in Michigan City, Indiana, and American Sand Sculpting Championship in Fort Myers Beach, Florida.
For more information about sponsorships, volunteer opportunities and becoming an event vendor, contact Elsie Patterson with the Manitowoc Sunrise Rotary at emepatterson@icloud.com. More details regarding the Wisconsin Sand Sculpting Festival’s schedule of events will be released soon.