PORT ANGELES — The sand sculptures for the Arts in Action festival all survived the rain Saturday night and Sunday morning.
The three-dimensional chalk drawing of an orca did not fare so well.
Although still visible, it had largely been washed away by Sunday morning.
The People’s Choice competition will continue for the best sand sculpture today through Saturday from noon to 5 p.m.
25 cents per vote
Viewers can cast their votes, with a quarter being one vote, and none of the artists have a solid lead.
“It is really hard to tell,” organizer Doc Reiss said.
“There are only 19 votes separating the top two at this point, and if someone were to put in $20, that is 100 votes, so you never know.”
Attendance for the weekend was overall slightly down, but those going through the sand sculpture gallery were up, Reiss said.
Because no tickets are required for the festival, which takes place at Hollywood Beach and City Pier, exact counts are not available, but organizers estimate that between 15,000 and 18,000 people attended the three-day festival, Reiss said.
The festival usually averages between 18,000 and 30,000, Reiss said.
However, on average, about 4,000 people go through the sand sculpture gallery, and this year, a total of 4,700 went through, Reiss said.
“The gallery attendance was up by about 20 percent from last year,” Reiss said.
“That doesn’t include kids, because they get in free, and we have no way to count them.”
The theme of this year’s competition was “World of Wonders.”
Seven sculptors from all over the world attended the festival to show their skills.
Dan Belcher of St. Louis, Mo., won the first-place judges’ award with his rendition of a woman with a banner with the word “Wonder” in various languages, representing the wonder of language, he said.
The seventh annual competition is part of the three-day festival put on by the Nor’wester Rotary Club and features a multitude of craft and art vendors at City Pier.
Reiss said that although attendance even in the gallery was down on Friday and Saturday, Sunday was more crowded than usual.
“It is a really great day,” he said.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
