Fairy tales in the sand.
Last year was my first time at the Sugar Sand Festival in Clearwater and I was impressed, so I added it to my list of must-do annual festivals. In 2014, I attended towards the end of the festival, so I was able to see completed sculptures. This year, I went towards the start of the festival, which let me see a bit more of the process. I didn’t look into the theme this year, but was pleasantly surprised once I arrived.
The previous theme was movies, which was interesting, but it didn’t completely resonate with me (Star Wars and Anchorman to be specific). This year’s theme for the event was fairy tales. I am a fan of fairy tales, but a few days prior to the event, I was gifted a book of original Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. The night before, I had started reading from it, so I was in fairy tale mode.
The sculptures may have only been in the beginning stages when I saw them, but the work that had been done was fantastic. Cinderella’s castle was incredible, almost towering over every other sand structure. Then there was The Boy Who Cried Wolf with it’s multi-sculpture composition and moon that seemed to defy gravity. My favorite was Hansel and Gretel though. I have always loved the story, but seeing the candy house and frightened children in sand-form was quite a treat.
I am excited for next year, but have to admit 2015’s Sugar Sand Festival will be hard to beat.