31st U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition, Imperial Beach, July 23-24, 2011

31st U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition,
Imperial Beach, July 23-24, 2011

The 31st U.S. Open Sandcastle Championship is this weekend, July 23 & 24, in Imperial Beach at Pier Plaza (intersection of Seacoast Drive and Evergreen Avenue:

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There will be more than forty teams competing for the title of Master's Champion, but look for either I.B. Posse from Imperial Beach or Archisand from Orange County to take the top two positions as they have done since 2000. Of course, I.B. Posse obviously has home sand advantage!

More than 350,000 people are expected to attend, and there will be 122 vendors providing everything from food and drink to this and that.

The fun starts Friday night at 8:00 p.m. with the Sandcastle Dance for age 21 and up at the Imperial Beach Boys and Girls Club. Dance lasts until midnight.

There is a Street Fair from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.

On Saturday, from 2:00 to 2:30 p.m. there is the traditional Kids-N-Kastles Competition for children 12 and under. The U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition will be from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Sunday with teams competing for more than $21,000 in cash prizes. Tides wash away the sandcastles in the late afternoon, so sandcastles will only be available for gawking until 4:00 p.m. I suggest getting there early to watch the teams build their sandcastles; that's more than half the excitement!

Here is a slide show of last year's event:

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