The Leap Sandcastle Classic is back at Ocean Beach on Oct. 28, 2023 from 11am-3:30pm! The free event brings out thousands of people for the ultimate sandcastle contest. You can watch teams build absolutely enormous sand sculptures while enjoying live music, performances, and local food trucks. The event is hosted by Leap Arts in Education as their main fundraising effort to support arts education in Bay Area schools.
This will be the event’s 41st year, and the theme is “Halloween Haunts” — that is, teams will be including fun and spooky Halloween elements into their sandcastle designs. Costumes at the event are highly encouraged.
The event raises a significant amount of necessary funding for Leap to provide arts education for over 8,500 children at 28 Bay Area schools. All proceeds from the event will go towards 2023’s fundraising goal of $300,000.
Official teams are generally composed of architects, engineers, contractors, designers, and corporations with help from local elementary school students. The deadline to register a sandcastle team has already passed, but individual participants can still register before October 15. Members of the public can also drop in at Ocean Beach on the day of the event and don’t need to officially enter.
Teams will vie for awards including “Best in Show,” “Best Team T-Shirt,” “People’s Choice Award,” “Tallest Structure,” “Best Teamwork,” and more.
Check-in begins at 8am on the morning of the event, and the official sandcastle competition begins at 11am with a live DJ onstage. Teams will build until 2:30pm at which point the competition’s judges will make their rounds, and the awards ceremony will happen from 3-3:30pm.
Save the date for the 41st annual Leap Sandcastle Classic on October 28, 2023 from 11am-3:30pm at Ocean Beach and Balboa in front of the Cliff House.