Spend Your July 4th Weekend Building Sandcastles in Manhattan Beach
Jun 30, 2022 07:56AM ● By Mb News Staff
A previous sandcastle contest winner - Photo via Roundhouse Aquarium.
Spending your July 4th weekend at the beach in Manhattan Beach? Build a sandcastle - and enter it into a contest that will raise funds for Manhattan Beach's beloved Roundhouse Aquarium and its programs.
The "Sunsational Sandcastles" contest invites people across the South Bay - and in fact, across the United States and around the world - to build their dream sandcastle. To enter, you must submit a photo of your sandcastle and a $30 application fee, anytime before July 24.
Information, instructions, and an application can be found here.
General sandcastle building rules include (but are not limited to):
- All ages are welcome, but you must be 18 to register a team.
- Use of photo editing or enhancing software will disqualify you from the contest.
- Your sculpture must be family-friendly.
- Sand sculptures must be made of sand and water only. No additives of any kind (sugar, flour, dye, glue, paint, etc.) may be used.
- Hand tools may be used, but not mechanical tools of any kind.
- Only objects found naturally on the beach (shells, seaweed, feathers) may be used in the sculpture; no outside materials allowed.
The entries that garner the most votes for each of the following
categories will win a prize:
High Tide – Best
overall sandcastle
Sea-sational Splash – Best ocean-themed sandcastle
We Otter Stick Together – Best team spirit
Creative Claws – Most creative sandcastle
Sea-sational Splash – Best ocean-themed sandcastle
We Otter Stick Together – Best team spirit
Creative Claws – Most creative sandcastle
Prizes will be determined by online voting, which will run from July 28
through August 14. (A donation of $10 is requested to cast a vote.)
Proceeds to Benefit Marine Education
The contest is hosted by The Oceanographic Teaching Stations, Inc. (OTS), the
non-profit that manages and operates the Roundhouse Aquarium, and sponsored by SoCalGas, the Port of
Long Beach, Metropolitan Water District, Michael Lee Architects and the Langlois
family.
All proceeds from the “Sunsational Sandcastles” fundraiser
will support OTS’ science-based education programs on the oceans, tidelands and
beaches.
“We hope to be
able to continue and expand our education programs on ocean science during 2022
and beyond," said OTS executive director Grace Adams in a statement. "We need the community’s help
to ensure that programs that inspire people of all ages to care for the oceans,
tidelands and beaches continue. OTS served more than 36,000 K-college students
from Southern California, various states in the United States, and around the
world. There is a continued need for our programs, whether they are in-person
or virtual."
