Featuring World Record Sand Sculptors, The Sand Guys. Saturday, March 7, 9am-4pm. Santa Rosa & San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor Center
by Lisa Morgan
Friends of the Desert Mountains are at it again, creating a brilliant family friendly event in honor of our desert’s incredible blooming landscape. As with last year’s successful event, the festival will feature plenty of music and food, a beer and wine garden, interpretive hikes, as well as a fun Kids Zone. But this year, one of the most exciting attractions will be world renowned sand sculptors, known as the Sand Guys.
Scott White, president and CEO of Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau shared, “The Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau is passionate about our outdoor recreational opportunities and the scenic beauty of our surrounding mountains and open spaces. The annual Wildflower Festival is a perfect time to showcase our myriad of outdoor offerings. We are excited to help bring the internationally known Sand Guys, stars of the reality show ‘Sand Masters,’ and their sand creation to the event this year. It will be an unforgettable experience for the entire family.”
The Sand Guys were behind breaking the Guinness World Record for highest sand sculpture ever built, a project they undertook in Brazil. Kirk Rademaker, founder of The Sand Guys, shared, “I was a project manager for a construction company for many years. I would go to the beach and sculpt in the sand to relieve stress. I thought I knew stress, but I didn’t know stress until I did that job in Rio. I felt like I turned 70 doing that job,” he said laughing. That being said, bringing in approximately 22 tons of sculpting sand for the Wildflower Festival should be a piece of cake. Rademaker and sculpting partner, Rusty Croft, can also be found creating sand sculptures for international corporations such as Yahoo, Google and Facebook. Sand Guys also give workshops and lessons that develop team building, creativity, and most of all fun. As to what they will be creating for us here at this event -well, you’ll just have to go to find out. They will also be unloading some of their sculpting sand in the Kids Zone so our younger sculptors will be able to participate.
Last year’s Wildflower event was a great success in spite of some less than perfect weather, but so far, weather predictions claim sunny skies in the low to mid 70’s. The funds generated by the event will help Friends of the Desert Mountains continue to acquire land for conservation, educate kids, lead hikes, build and maintain trails, pull weeds, man the Visitor Center, and to do many other things in support of both our National Monument and of conservation efforts throughout the Coachella Valley.
Admission and parking will be free. Shuttles will run from St. Margaret’s Church at 47-535 Highway 74, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. To learn more about the Coachella Valley Wildflower Festival, go to DesertMountains.org or call (760) 862-9984
Follow the Sand Guys on FB at www.facebook.com/SandGuys or at www.sandguys.com
