Sculptures created on Parksville beach the centrepiece of annual festival

Head to the beach in Parksville in the summer, and you’ll discover there’s a lot more to see than starfish and periwinkles.

In recent years, you may have also spotted a 1920s-era aviator, a trumpet-blasting Louis Armstrong and an enormous wave-riding sea turtle.

These—and many more whimsical creations—have been the works of some of the world’s top sand sculptors, artists who make their way to the Vancouver Island community to take part in the showcase event of the annual Parksville Beach Festival.

Beachfest—as locals know it—is a five-week celebration of summer, attracting some 115,000 people on average to hear the concerts, watch the fireworks and stroll the artisan markets. But the big draw, without question, is the Quality Foods Sand Sculpting Competition and Exhibition, which event manager Wendy Sears says ranks right up there on the global stage. “We’re within the international circuit, for sure,” she says.