Submitted by The Hands On Children’s Museum
The South Sound’s largest family sand festival, Sand in the City® is slated for Aug. 23-25 at the NEW Hands On Children’s Museum on Olympia’s East Bay Waterfront. This much-loved free event will feature expanded activities, longer hours, free parking shuttles and the opportunity to visit the inside of the New Museum for a special discounted rate.
Sand in the City® kicks-off Friday, Aug. 23, from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. with public viewing of the Team Sand Sculpting competition where 275-plus team members, representing 13 corporate and community teams, stomp, soak and sculpt in a timed competition to earn the coveted Golden Shovel Award.
On Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 24 & 25, the event features a free Beach Party where the public can enjoy giant sandboxes loaded with sand toys and sculpting tools, along with 40 interactive art and science activities spread around the East Bay Public Plaza and streets adjacent to the New Children’s Museum.
Activities include a tide pool touch tank, a rock climbing wall, and animal visits. The event will feature popular Museum-led exhibits including the TotSpot Early Learning Center and the Young at Art Studio. In the “Make and Take” crafts area kids can create Sandbands, Hero Capes, Garden Hats, and Oyster Globes, while in the “Global Village” they can make Australian Sea Jelly Necklaces, Icelandic Shark Fans, and Costa Rican Bird Masks. The event also includes all-day entertainment on the stage, including hula, country, and big band swing dancers; African drummers, a blues band, and folk musicians; and children’s humorist and storyteller Rick Huddle. Favorite local food vendors and food trucks will be expanded at this year’s event.
In addition to all the free outdoor festivities, families can visit the New Museum for a special event admission rate of $25 per family (this includes admission for up to 2 adults and 3
children). Admission will include access to the Museum’s nine themed galleries and 150+ hands-on exhibits, including the new Makespace in the Arts & Parts Studio, where they can
tinker, design, and build using real tools and materials. During Sand in the City®, the Museum will also unveil the first exhibits of its new Outdoor Discovery Center, designed to connect young children to nature: a giant two-story stick sculpture by renowned environmental artist Patrick Dougherty and the Driftwood Fort Construction Area, featuring fixed and loose pieces of driftwood, giant root balls, boulders, and paddle boards.
The Sand in the City® event originated in Portland, and now benefits non-profit organizations in the United States and Mexico. Olympia’s version of the event is free to the public. All donations, food sales, store sales, team entry fees, event sponsorships, and discounted Museum admissions support the Museum’s Free and Reduced Admissions Programs throughout the year which serves more than 75,000 children and adults.
The event hours for Friday are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with public viewing of the team competition along with select art activities. Saturday’s giant Beach Party, which includes hands-on activities, live entertainment and demonstrations by Master Sand Sculptors, runs from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Then, Sunday’s Grandparents’ Day, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., features additional activities designed for children and their grandparents to do together.
For more information about Sand in the City®, visit www.hocm.org/sandinthecity.
