‘Every year it gets more amazing’: Revere Beach Sand Sculpting Festival wows in 20th year

REVERE, Mass. — It was, thankfully for organizers, perfect summer weather for the International Sand Sculpting Festival at Revere Beach. Because this is one art form that clearly can’t stand up to a rainstorm.

And yet, water is one of the essential ingredients to a successful sand sculpture, said Chris Guintoi.

“I’ve been doing professional sand sculpting for about 22 years now, " said Guinto, now an organizer for the festival. “Once you put a lot of water in, then compact it, step on it, it compresses the sand grains together. And if you don’t do that it doesn’t stay together. It falls apart.”

Guinto, who’s won a few sand sculpting awards of his own, said the annual competition at Revere Beach draws the ‘best of the best.’ Among those, Jobi Bouchard, whose intricate “Blend In,” took first prize at the competition.

“In fact, it was a clean sweep for ‘Blend In’,” Guinta said. “He took the people’s choice and first place, so it was a really good sculpture.”

There are, in fact, no bad sculptures at the festival, with artists from Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Japan and Albania creating astonishing pieces. . Sculptors from from the Netherlands, Belgium also finishing in the Top Five.

“I can’t believe that it has grown from one sculptor 20 years ago, to what you see today,” said Carol Haney of Revere. “Every year it gets more amazing because they do different things that seem to get more intricate than the year before. And you think, boy, this could not get any better but it always gets better.”

CHECK OUT THE GALLERY BELOW FOR THE WINNERS AND OTHERS SCULPTURES:

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