Seymour advises, “Parking is at a premium, especially during high season (loosely, Christmas to Easter ... “The Siesta Key Crystal Classic is a sand-sculpting competition held annually ...

Rick Mungeam's Let the Light In took third place in the Solo competition at the 2021 Crystal Classic Sand Sculpting Festival on Siesta Key. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst The Sarasota area is a ...

A total of 24 artists will compete in an international master sand sculpting competition on Siesta Key Beach, with some pieces reaching over ten feet tall, according to the event website.

While many head north to experience a white Christmas, others flock to Florida to trade snow for sand. However ... 10 Tampa Bay spent Christmas Day in Siesta Key, where the community is still ...

the organizers of the annual Siesta Key Crystal Classic sand sculpting festival said they saw an increase in attendance. The event reported that out-of-county visitors to the 2018 Siesta Key ...

Due to tropical storm conditions, the Siesta Key Crystal Classic will not be open ... The event will draw 24 international sand sculpting master artists. Eight will compete in the solo competition ...

"Ninety-nine percent quartz crystal sand feeds Siesta Key. Lido does not have quartz crystal. They take this out, they take our storm protection -- our sand source,” Holderness explained.

“I can’t trade sand because I don’t know how [other collectors] collect it.” Siesta’s sand is especially prized by collectors because it’s 99 percent quartz crystal, or quartz ground ...

"Australian pines create a sort of a windbreak, which slows the sand down, which allows other seeds to grow, which allows grass to come around." As far as protection from hurricanes, Siesta Key is ...