HUNTINGTON BEACH : Record Sand Castle Goes Against Grain

Big sand castles, but no world record.

That’s the scaled-down goal of the Huntington Beach Amateur Sand Castle Festival today.

Initially, the festival coordinator, the Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau, announced there would be “an attempt to build the world’s longest sand sculpture.” But on Thursday, a spokeswoman for the bureau said that goal had been scrapped.

“We found out that we’d have to build a sculpture more than 5.2 miles long, and so now we’re not trying for the world record,” said Lucy Sanderson, administrative assistant for the conference bureau. She added, “Now we’re just doing it for fun.”

Sanderson said people will be on the beach from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to build sand castles. “We’re building castles and sand sculptures for about a half mile, from Huntington Street (at Pacific Coast Highway) to Beach Boulevard” at Coast Highway, she said.

The entry fee for the event is $2 per foot of beach, with a 10-foot, or $20, minimum. Late entries will be registered from 9 to 10 a.m. on the beach at Huntington Street and Pacific Coast Highway, opposite the Waterfront Hilton Resort Hotel.

“This is a community event, getting companies and families together,” Sanderson said. She added that the activity also will emphasize that the city is a good tourist destination in fall and winter, as well as in the summer.