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‘They’re Just Here to Have Fun.’

by Jean Chen & Jenn Heflin On In Alameda Life | Comments Disabled

Results from the 58th Annual Alameda Sand Castle and Sculpture Contest

On Saturday morning, June 20, Robert Crown Memorial State Beach was busy with almost 500 people working with buckets, hoes, and shovels. As ’80s tunes like “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” blasted on a loudspeaker, participants in the 58th Annual Sand Castle & Sand Sculpture Contest shaped mounds of sand into ephemeral creations.

Alameda Post - A photo from the Bay of people of all ages at the Annual Alameda Sand Castle and Sculpture Contest on the beach. [1]
Photo by Jenn Heflin.

There were 85 entries this year, divided into Castle and Sculpture categories, and judged in groups of 12 & Under, 13 & Over, and Family. With the low tide exposing a large swath of wet sand, participants built their structures in assigned plots along the beach. The contest is a collaborative event between the East Bay Regional Park District (ERPD), Bayview Women’s Club, and Alameda Recreation and Park Department (ARPD).

Alameda resident Terry Gaige headed up a crew with his son Asher and friends from San Francisco. They arrived at 8:30 a.m. to register, and started building when the contest officially began at 9 a.m. The dragon they created won first place in the sculpture category.

“The black sand is accessible because it’s low tide and that seems to be making some cool scales,” said Gaige. According to Susan Ramos, a naturalist with East Bay Regional Park District who hosted a table at the event, the black sand is from deeper layers “that do not have oxygen.” Like Gaige, many participants incorporated the contrasting dark and light sand into their art.

As the morning got underway, more participants and onlookers arrived at the beach. A few casual artists showed up as late as 11 a.m., just as registration closed. By then, kids were steadily running back and forth between the castles and the bay, hauling water and wet sand while others in their group dug moats. Some serious sculptors came equipped with spray bottles and industrial style sprayers ordinarily used for pest control in order to keep their sand damp.

Dylan Higgins-Kiang, a camp counselor at the Alameda Young Naturalist Club [2] (AYNC), entered the sculpture contest with two other staffers from the club. They were working on an anglerfish for their entry. “We go to the beach pretty regularly for our job and this anglerfish was actually an inspiration from one of our campers,” Higgins-Kiang said.

Patrick Russi, Recreation Manager at ARPD, told the Alameda Post that he has been involved with putting on the contest for over 30 years. When asked what the tallest castle has ever been, Russi explains first that builders can’t use outside supports for the structures. “It is quite a delicate decision because the higher you go, the more wet you’ve got to keep the sand to keep it intact… I would say the tallest ones I’ve seen are probably 4 to 5 feet.”

Alameda Post - A photo of a smiling contestant next to a sand sculpture of an animal, and a group photo of smiling judges and attendees. [3]
Left: Judge Liz Rush (right) with Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft (center). Right: An entry in the competition. Photos by Jenn Heflin.

Judges for this year’s event included Vice Mayor Michele Pryor and Alameda Fire Department Chief Nick Luby, as well as Public Art Commission Chairperson and Post contributor Liz Rush. Russi explained that the judges were advised by members of the Bayview Women’s Club, some of whom had organized and registered people for the event for over 50 years and were familiar with the nuances of sand castle and sculpture judging.

First place in the 12 & Under Sand Castle Category was awarded to Cub Scout Pack 1015 from Alameda. Midway through the sculpting, Kat Smith, the adult who was overseeing the Cub Scouts, told the Post, “Right now, it is a volcano with an evil layer of castle and maybe a good guy castle as well… but it might change in 20 minutes. Who knows?… I think they’re just here to have fun.”

Russi reminded the Post that the contest is truly a one-day event. When asked how long the sand creations would be on display he responded, “Well, this week, 6 o’clock is high tide.” At that time, everyone’s evil castles and dragons would be swept back into the bay.

2026 Sand Castle and Sand Sculpture Contest Award Winners

Best of Show Winners

Sand Castle Best of Show Winners

Team: Taylor Family
City: Dublin
Title: Large Castle with Moat

Sand Sculpture Best of Show Winners

Team: Gaige & Hammonds
City: Alameda
Title: Trash to Treasure

Alameda Post - A man in a Hawaiian shirt and a hat makes a sand castle. [4]

Alameda Post - A sign on the beach with an arrow that says Sand Sculptures, and a photos of a sand castle decorated with leaves. [5]
Photos by Jenn Heflin.

Sand Castle Ribbon Winners

12 & Under Category
13 & Over Category
Family Category

Alameda Post - A person works on a sand sculpture of a seal and large letters that say Seal Later. [6]

Alameda Post - A man works on a sand sculpture of a platypus. [7]

Alameda Post - Sand sculptures of a beaver and a monster with a real dead fish in its mouth. [8]
Photos by Jenn Heflin.

Sand Sculpture Ribbon Winners

12 & Under Category
13 & Over Category
Family Category

Jean Chen is a contributing writer for the Alameda Post [9]. Contact her via [email protected] [10]. Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Jean-Chen [11]. Jenn Heflin is a freelance portrait and business photographer in Alameda. To view her work, visit her BlueSky account [12].All photos ©2026 Jenn Heflin.