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Friday, January 30, 2015

2nd. Annual Sand Castle Event



I thought I'd give my Uruguay readers a quick heads up.

Snooping out of my window this morning, I saw some new activity at the beach in front of my house. I saw  poles being set up and strung with wiring and lights, right on the sand itself.

Also, there was a large bulldozer pushing mounds of sand into piles at various intervals.


So I waddled on down to the beach with my camera in hand and started asking some questions. It turns out that, the second annual Marindia Sand Castle event will be this last weekend of January. It should have, all of the sand sculptures ready to tour by Saturday, January 31 and Sunday, February 1st. This year the city of Salinas, who oversees Marindia, is adding a new feature to the event. The beach will be lit up at night to illuminate the sand sculptures.

The event is FREE!  It is located in the town of Marindia on the beach near the parking area named, Bajada 7. Today, Friday (January 30th), seems to be a preparation day for the event.

If you want to see the artists constructing the castles, then Friday is the day to come. However, I am looking forward to strolling at night, tonight (Friday the 30th) on the beach under the temporary event lights to see what was accomplished during the day.



On Saturday,  I want to see how many artists finally contributed to the event.

Last year, Our neighbours (2 houses got together) added a very professional looking "Sponge Bob square pants" sand portrait!

Last year, 2014, our neighbours' "SpongeBob". 
Today, amidst the piles of sand waiting to be worked on, I saw one small but impressive sculpture finished and left standing abandon as a fore-gleam of what is to come.


Last year, some neighbourhood dogs ran through and jumped on some of the pieces, ruining them. So be warned that the city wisely put up a "no animals allowed" sign.

Be sure to avoid any fines and leave your dogs at home (yeah, those dogs ruined it for the others). I hope the lack of dogs on the beach is only for this event since watching your dogs play in the sand and running through the surf is a joyous thing to behold. I agree though that the hard work of the artists need to be protected.





I went Saturday night with some friends and took these shots of the sand art lit up by the lights.


 Everyone, took photos in front of the naked lady sculpture.


We all, thought the penguins were outstanding, Wally liked their beaks.


So, if you are looking for a romantic, yet free venue to come to, try strolling on our Marindia beach at night this weekend (or day).


Enjoy the beach, the weather and the sand art!

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