Clearwater Sugar Sand Fest Sculptors Pay Homage To Notre Dame

CLEARWATER, FL — Moved by the heart-wrenching videos showing the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris being ravaged by fire on Monday, organizers of the 2019 Sugar Sand Festival in Clearwater, Florida, are paying homage to the Gothic landmark.

Today, organizers of Clearwater Beach's premier festival unveiled a scaled-down replica of the iconic cathedral designed by master sand sculptors and created using Clearwater Beach's world-famous sugar sand.

The Sugar Sand Festival, which opened Friday and runs through April 23, spotlights the works of 14 sand sculptors who travel to Clearwater from around the world the week before the festival opens to create their masterpieces out of sand. The 14 sand sculptures are on display inside a 21,000-square-foot structure on the beach for the duration of the festival.

City of Clearwater public information officer Jason Beisel said it's appropriate for the cherished cathedral to be included in this year's festival since the 2019 festival theme is "SEA the World, A Journey Around the Globe." Each sand sculptor was tasked with creating a sculpture representing a world-famous landmark.

Like the rest of the world, the festival organizers and sand sculptors were shocked and saddened to see a fire sweep through the top of the Paris cathedral this week. Creating the replica Notre Dame out of sand was their way of honoring the beauty of the cathedral and acknowledging its loss, Beisel said.

The collaborative sand sculpture has a precedent. During last year's festival, organizers received word of the death of former First Lady Barbara Bush. Organizers and artists decided to honor her by creating a sand sculpture in which she was prominently featured.

This year, more than 1,000 tons of soft, white Clearwater sugar sand was molded and shaped into the landmark replicas now on display at the festival. In addition to the masterpieces in sand, the festival features gourmet dining , craft beer and wine, sand-sculpting classes and competitions, live bands, movies on the beach, night fireworks displays, arts and crafts vendors and a giant sand box for kids to explore their own artistic talents.

Last year, more than 120,000 people visited the Clearwater Beach Sugar Sand Festival. And with Clearwater Beach just being named the No. 1 beach in America for the second year in a row by TripAdvisor's Travelers' Choice awards for Beaches, organizers are anticipating this year's festival to be the biggest yet. To accommodate the anticipated crowds, the festival has been extended from 10 days to 17 days.

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