This Year’s Competitors

Master sculptors from around the world apply to compete in our annual competition.

Parksville is known within the sculpting circuit for its fine hospitality and beautiful location. The Parksville Beach Festival Society works very hard to ensure the sculptors are well taken care of.  Their travel, meals and accommodation are paid for. They also receive an appearance fee as well as the opportunity to win prize money.

Attracting sculptors to apply for our competition is done by sending out an open invitation to past competitors as well as to any new/unknown sculptors who have expressed interest.  The top 3 singles and doubles from the previous year receive automatic entry in to the next year’s competition.

Doubles:
Susanne Ruseler & Jakub Zimacek
Susanne started sand sculpting in 2003, while living in Utrecht and discovered that she loved creating sculptures. Susanne started her own sculpture company, working with materials such as snow, ice, foam and concrete. She travels around the world working on projects, taking part in events and competing.
Edith van de Wetering & Wilfred Stijger
When Edith was young, she hated sand between her toes, but now she couldn’t live without it! Participating in the sand sculpture festival in Scheveningen (The Netherlands) started as a hobby but got out of control fast. Now she’s been traveling the world building sand, snow, and ice sculptures for over 15 years.
Wilfred started sculpting sand on the beach of Katwijk, (The Netherlands) after reading a book by Pieter Wiersma. The book inspired Wilfred to sculpt and build his confidence. Through his network, Wilfred was invited to festivals and has since been travelling the world creating beautiful sculptures in sand, snow, and ice.
Ted Siebert & Fred Dobbs
Ted and Fred first met at Alki Beach near Seattle, Washington as competitors ('Freddie and the Sandblasters' vs 'Team Totally in Sand'). We later joined forces and competed together and have created fabulous sand sculptures around the world ever since. Our sand sculpting journey has taken us to Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Kuwait, Romania, Saudi Arabia, and throughout the USA, and Canada.
Seveline Beauregard & Joris Kivits
To Sèveline art is an unlimited world to express oneself. Every form of art offers a chance for self discovery. As a child she wanted to try everything: dancing, singing,
drawing, painting, writing, sketching and carving.
Seven years ago, her father and sister invited her to work with them on some projects and since then, she is now carving sand, snow and ice around the world.
Before Joris started carving he worked as a freelancer in: graphic design, art direction for movies and television, photography, and an illustrator to name a few. Nowadays makings sculptures has become his main work. In 2006 he participated his first project in Lommel (Belgium). Making sand sculptures is like a theatre-act; you can enjoy it as long as it is there and than the memory and pictures are the only things that remain..
Sue McGrew & Dmitry Klimenko
Dmitry and Sue started competing together in 2019, after years of carving next to each other at sand sculpting festivals and competitions around the world. Since meeting at the Tottori Sand Museum in Japan, their instant bond has led to a friendship that has grown with each passing year of artful adventures and Parksville dance parties. Wild in their creativity, these two goofballs are excited to combine their talents to compete in the gritty glory of sand sculpting. 
Soloists:
Guy Beauregard
Guy Beauregard, has traveled to over 15 countries to play with sand, ice, and snow. He introduced his children to sculpting, and now is honored to work, support, and compete with them.
Dan Belcher
Dan has been creating professional sand sculptures since 1990, learning from many pioneers of the art form, and now collaborating with a family of many of the best and most talented sand sculptors from around the World. During this time, he has won 14 world Championship in the Team, Doubles, and Solos categories, and competed in scores of other contests and hundreds of professional projects across the country around the world including Japan, China, Denmark, Italy, Australia, Great Britain, and many other wonderful destinations. He loves the balance of the physical and creative sides of working with sand. He is relatively new to friendly, competitive world of snow sculpting competing with Team Florida at the Nationals in Lake Geneva, WI in 2022. He is also a Landscape Architect with a degree from Kansas State University. He has been a professional brewer and has run a few marathons when his schedule allows.

Guy-Olivier Deveau
Professional sand and ice sculptor from Québec, Canada for many years, this occupation merely was a summer job meant to help finance university study in the field of philosophy. After meeting and working with professional sculptors as a helper, he refined his skills and finally was able to enter the sand sculpture World Championship in 2008 where he placed 4th. This is the event that started him on the path he is on today, traveling the world to perform his art.
Karen Fralich
Karen has been creating sand sculptures for 29 years. She has no formal art training, but always loved sculpting in multiple mediums before she discovered sand. Her passion, curiosity and many incredible mentors lead her to embrace this unusual career. In 1998, she entered her first international sand sculpting contest and by 2001 she was working full-time as a free-lance sand sculptor. She specializes in fantasy and whimsical themes, but she loves a challenge.
To date, Karen has competed in over 150 Masters Level International sand sculpture contests, winning 29 First Place Titles, as well as 5 World Championship titles.
Her work takes her around the world, collaborating with friends, festivals and companies in Canada, the USA, Japan, Mexico, Italy, Holland, Spain, England, UAE, South Korea, Taiwan, and Australia.

David Kaube
David Kaube was in the Bachelor of Arts Program at VIU for 2 years where he took classes in oil painting, drawing, classical and computer animation. Along with this he has done professional photography work and has two screen plays registered with Writers Guild of America. David thinks its a little funny that he has never taken a sculpting class but has been paid to teach one!
Thomas Koet
Thomas has been sculpting for 25 years. Large events give him the opportunity to make his art on an impressive scale. Originally from the Netherlands, Thomas has a master's degree in Industrial Design Engineering and has been a designer and lead sculptor for some of Europe's and North America's largest sand sculpting events. Thomas' artistic goal is to make extraordinary sculptures with the highest quality possible. Accomplishments include 2010 World Champion of Sand Sculpting and 2019 Best Sand Sculptor of the Netherlands for a national TV Show. His ability and talent has taken him all over Europe and the US as well as China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, the Middle East and Canada.
Damon Langlois
Damon got started as a sand artist in 1992 competing at the World Championships in Harrison Hot Springs. This was the gathering place for all the greats, and he learned a lot from those artists. In the sand Damon likes to plan a little but then discover the sculpture within. “My favourite part of a competition is actually the “pound-up” where we compact tons of sand into forms making it strong enough to work our magic. I don’t really like the shoveling but I always take note of the final structure that is full of potential energy and creative possibility.”
Craig Mutch
Craig is an artist who wears many hats - sand sculpture, ice, snow, pumpkin, and woodcarving, body painting and professional photography for over twenty-five years. Originally an Illustrator and Graphic Designer from Edmonton, Alberta, he changed careers and boarded the cruise ship industry where he worked for many years as a lab manager/photographer/artist. He now resides in Vancouver, BC, and travels around the world producing private works for large shopping malls and special event productions. He is currently working in the film industry as Set Artist/Sculptor for such features as ‘Planet of the Apes’ and ‘The Solutrean’. 
Abe Waterman
Abe has been creating artwork ever since he was old enough to eat crayons; he considered every new diaper a fresh canvas. Though some may still consider Abe’s output rather colorful, and he may still enjoy a Crayola from time to time, he now works mostly on ephemeral mediums, such as sand and snow.
Bruce Waugh
My Father loved to travel, and beaches were always his first choice for a vacation. Ocean, lakes, rivers it didn't matter, wiggling your toes in warm sand was always an attraction. And what did I do while Mom and Dad were sipping their cocktails on the beach? You guessed it…sand sculpting!” Bruce first got inspired by the 1987 White Rock Competition. He spent hours looking at cable TV footage in the White Rock library. He then tried his hand at it a little later, and his first piece was featured on the front page of the “Peace Arch News”.
Head Judge:
Peter Vogelaar
Over 50 years ago, Peter enjoyed many summer days playing on the beach in Parksville. He had no idea that much later in life, he would come to have great success sculpting sand above the tide line. Parksville Beach continues to be a magical place, a community that has managed to create one of the most popular sand sculpture contests on the international circuit. A six-time winner here, Peter hopes to keep adding to that total for as long as he can wield a shovel. All these fine memories, give Parksville a warm place in his heart.
Canadian Tire Learn to Sculpt Like A Pro Sculptors:
Ken Abrams
Ken began sand sculpting in Parksville in 1994 with his family in the tidal beach competition. During that first year he met a team from Victoria who qualified for the World Championships and was asked to join them. As the Sand Boxers Team they went on to win the team event many times in Parksville as well as at the World Championships! Those experiences led to sand sculpting commissions all over the world for festivals and corporate demonstrations.
In recent years Ken has worked with kids during the Parksville Beachfest, teaching the skills and tricks used to create with sand.
Michael Hurst
Mike has always been looking for a way to grow his sculpting abilities. In 1986, when Freddie and the Sandblasters were looking for a new body, Mike joined them and enjoyed success at both Parksville and Harrison. He assembled a group of friends in 1993 that had been attending the Parksville competition as spectators and wanted to try it out. The Sandboxers team started that summer in the intermediate category, then went straight to the World Championships at Harrison. Mike won the Worlds and Canadian Open numerous times as a member of the Sandboxers team.
Sponsorship

Put your business in the spotlight and reach over 100,000 potential customers.  There are many ways to participate!  If you don’t find the right fit for your business and budget, we would be happy to customize a benefit package to suit your needs.  Contact us at info@parksvillebeachfest.ca.

Sculptors

Master sculptors from all around the world apply to participate in Parksville’s annual competition each year.

Today Is
26 Apr 2024
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