{"id":501835,"date":"2026-10-20T05:09:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T05:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/501835\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T05:09:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T05:09:00","slug":"in-1983-the-first-leap-sandcastle-classic-took-over-ocean-beach-43-years-later-thousands-will-gather-this-saturday-for-northern-californias-largest-sandcastle-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/501835\/","title":{"rendered":"In 1983, the first Leap Sandcastle Classic took over Ocean Beach; 43 years later, thousands will gather this Saturday for Northern California\u2019s largest sandcastle contest"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Leap-sandcastle-contest-featured-1024x683.png\"   width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" alt=\"Video game sandcastle at Leap Sandcastle Contest in 2025.\" class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Leap Sandcastle Contest<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The wait for one of SF\u2019s favorite events of the year is almost over: The 2026 Leap Sandcastle Classic is back at Ocean Beach this month!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The free event brings out thousands of people for the ultimate sandcastle contest on Saturday, October 24th, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>2026 Leap Sandcastle Classic<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can watch teams build absolutely enormous sand sculptures while enjoying live music, performances, and local food trucks. The event is hosted by Leap Arts in Education as their main fundraising effort to support arts education in Bay Area schools.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This will be the event\u2019s 44th year, and the theme is \u201cBay Area Vibes,\u201d meaning that teams will incorporate local landmarks, sports teams, and recognizable Bay Area references into their designs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Leap Sandcastle Classic raises a significant amount of necessary funding for Leap to provide arts education for 10,000 children at 30 Bay Area schools. Proceeds from the event will go towards 2026\u2019s fundraising goal of $300,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Official teams are generally composed of architects, engineers, contractors, designers, and corporations with help from local elementary school students. Teams must register for the event well in advance and commit to a minimum fundraising goal of $4,500. Members of the public can also drop in at Ocean Beach on the day of the event and don\u2019t need to officially enter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Teams will vie for awards including \u201cBest in Show,\u201d \u201cBest Team T-Shirt,\u201d \u201cPeople\u2019s Choice Award,\u201d \u201cTallest Structure,\u201d \u201cBest Teamwork,\u201d and more.<\/p>\n<p>Leap Sandcastle Classic at a glance<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Check-in begins at 8am on the morning of the event, and the official sandcastle competition begins at 11am with a live DJ onstage. Teams will build until 2:30pm at which point the competition\u2019s judges will make their rounds, and the awards ceremony will happen from 3-3:30pm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udcc5 Date: Oct. 24, 2026 from 11am-3:30pm<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udccd Location: Ocean Beach and Balboa in front of the Cliff House<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83c\udf10 Website: <a href=\"https:\/\/leapsandcastleclassic.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/leapsandcastleclassic.org\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_0\" data-category=\"click_non_sales\">Leap Sandcastle Classic<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Courtesy of Leap Sandcastle Contest The wait for one of SF\u2019s favorite events of the year is almost&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-501835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}