MARKING the end of summer, the upcoming Annual Bermuda International Sand Sculpture Competition provides beachgoers with a chance to celebrate yet another season of fun in the sun, writes Lindsay Kelly.

Held on Saturday, August 30 at Horseshoe Beach, residents and locals alike will have the opportunity to build their sand masterpieces alongside some of the best in the sand sculpture business.

According to Nicky Gurret, the director of the competition and an architect with Gibbons Management Services, the event, in its 13th year, promises to be an enjoyable affair that appeals to families, children, adults and professionals.

"It's a good family event," she said. "What else can you do that will get a family together and create something? Not many events do that. It's also a chance for teenagers to get together with their friends and do something that is fun and exciting on the beach."

For some, building something out of sand might seem a daunting task.

Not so, says Ms Gurret: "Building sand sculptures is not difficult to do. People say 'oh, it's so hard, I can't do it' but in reality, it isn't that hard to do. We've had people just build a donut with a cup of coffee and a bite taken out of the donut. It was a really quite wonderful piece, it's a classic piece to do."

Thanks to the Department of Tourism, one of the main organisers of the event along with the Bermuda Institute of Architects, participants will have an even easier time building this year.

"What's good is that this is the second year that the Department of Tourism will provide a pile of sand for each entrant. That's what used to take up half the day was getting your pile of sand to sculpt. So the plots are 12 by 12 and you get a sand pile about four or five feet high so it isn't as physically demanding as it used to be," said Ms Gurret.

Ms Gurret has been the director of the event since its inception and enjoys the event so much that she even participates as well. And, now that each contestant gets a pile of sand, her husband is off the sand-lugging hook.

"One of the reasons I continue to do this every year is because I love building sandcastles and I usually build with my friend from school who visits in the summer. My husband used to have to do the lugging but he doesn't have to do it anymore.

"This event was just something that was interesting for me to do. It was a reason to sit on a board and do something. It was a way to get people involved in art. It's the art of building, which could lead to the art of building buildings. Constructing a sandcastle is the simplest form of building anything, isn't it? You're creating something and that's what building is," she said.

She's even taken her talent and enthusiasm for sand sculpting to America, where sand sculpting has been popular for the last 20 years, and entered into one of the top sand castle competitions in the country.

"In America they have this competition called the US Open Sandcastle Competition in Imperial Beach, San Diego that has been going on for 28 years," she explained. "I went to it last year and placed fourth in my category. I got my sister to build with me. They do it differently there, they don't have family entries like ours, they have category entries, like sea creatures and an underwater category. We entered the sea creature category and built a Bermuda Triangle - a sloped triangle coming out of the sand and on top of the triangle was a giant octopus with its tentacles grabbing a mermaid and the other tentacles grabbing a chest of gold and jewels. The whole town there gets involved it seems."

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