For 364 days a year, it’s essentially...

For 364 days a year, it’s essentially just water and sand.

But for a few hours each year the stretch of beach at the foot of Junipero Street, just down the bluff from Ocean Boulevard, becomes a playground of the imagination. Majestic castles. Bathing beauties. Fierce dragons. Crawling insects. Fanciful sea creatures. Humorous cartoon characters.

This celebration of whimsy and workmanship is the Great Sand Sculpture Contest in Long Beach. The 26th annual event, which is sponsored by the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, will begin at 9 a.m. on Aug. 18, with judging taking place at 1:30 p.m.

Entries are divided into the categories of sand castles and open sculptures (with further divisions based on whether forms or molds are used). In addition, judging categories separate children 16 and under from adults, and business groups from other groups, including a separate category for professional sand sculptors. Entry fees vary according to these categories. For information, call the Chamber of Commerce at 436-1251.

Louise Carlson, staff coordinator for the event, said prizes are given for first-, second- and third-place finishers in each category. These prizes consist of plaques made from mounted shells or other similar sea-oriented trophies.

The contest usually draws about 40 to 60 teams, Carlson said. Each team is limited to no more than 12 people inside a sculpting plot, although many other people assist the sculptors by carting water or sand.

The awards will be presented at 3 p.m., and Carlson said officials guard the sculptures until at least 4 p.m. to allow participants and onlookers to get a close-up view of the completed works of art.

But once the ropes surrounding the plots come down, so do the sculptures. In a frenzy of destruction, children smash and splash and crash and mash their way through the contest area, returning the beach to its natural state. Water and sand.

The Great Sand Sculpture Contest is just one of more than 20 events scheduled as part of this year’s Long Beach International Sea Festival.

This is the 59th year for the sea festival, said Gabriel Daigle, community information supervisor for the Department of Parks and Recreation. The festival began Friday with a high school volleyball tournament and a junior lifeguard competition, and it continues until Aug. 25.

Other events include the Jet Ski Nationals, which conclude today at Marine Stadium; a children’s fishing rodeo at Belmont Pier on Aug. 9; the Dutch Miller Lifeguard Competition on Aug. 7; the annual Catalina Ski Race on Aug. 11, and the Prindle California State Championship Regatta, a catamaran contest, on Aug. 24 and 25.