TUESDAY AUGUST 18, 2015
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BEACHFEST
Attendance tops 100,000 Music, fireworks help close a successful five-week festival JOHN HARDING
editor@pqbnews.com
Was it the great weather? Or the great sculptures? Or the work of dozens of dedicated volunteers? Whatever the reason — likely a combination of all of the above — the 100,000-visitor plateau was reached this year at the Quality Foods Canadian Open Sand Sculpting Competition and Exhibition, a mark that was elusive in recent years. It’s an attendance record for the festival, which closed with the demolition of the sculptures on Monday. The 2015 event featuring the Heroes and Villains theme beat previous gate attendance records — organizers say 104,427 visitors were “carefully counted” over the five-week period. “The warm, sunny weather, quality of sculpting featuring a theme with mass appeal and the state of the economy all lead to such tremendous results”, said Cheryl Dill, president of the Parksville Beach Festival Society. “The vast amount of positive comments collected from local residents and visitors at the gate and through social media surpass previous years’ feedback.” Organizers said the free concert series each weekend also likely contributed to the spike in numbers. The grand finale Saturday featuring two Vancouver Island groups, Johnny Inappropriate and The Timebenders, along with the Quality Foods fireworks, which drew thousands of residents and visitors on closing weekend. Visitors also had the opportunity to select their favourite sculptures. Close to 100,000 votes were recorded. The artists behind the two most popular sculptures will be presented with The People’s Choice awards. “These are highly coveted awards amongst the master sculptors in our competition,” said event manager Trish Smith, “and it seems that voters agreed with the judging results as well.” The top prize in the People’s Choice Awards went to “My Better Half,” featuring Batman and The Joker, by Marielle Heesels of the Netherlands and David Ducharme of Winlaw, B.C. Second place in the People’s Choice Awards was “Relativity,” featuring Albert Einstein, by Abe Waterman, of P.E.I. See SOCIETY GIVES BACK, page A23
JOHN HARDING PHOTO
SMASHING GOOD TIME: About 200 people watched 30 competitors go through a tricky obstacle course on Sunday afternoon at the Bowser Legion during the Branch 211 Lawn Mower Races. Above, a competitor (“Rocky”) tries to get through the last of the obstacles, which included a water balloon that had to be smashed. See more photos at www.facebook.com/PQBNews.
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