Sand sculptures damaged by vandals at Vancouver Island beach festival, organizers say

PARKSVILLE — Organizers of a Vancouver Island beach festival say multiple artists were left devastated after vandals partially destroyed several sand sculptures over the weekend.

It happened at the Parksville Beach Festival in Parksville, B.C., where multiple sculptors had been participating in an annual competition.

The festival society’s director Cheryl Dill says volunteers discovered the damage at around 6 a.m. Sunday.

She says the sculptures looked like they had been climbed on and kicked apart, leaving artists upset to see their hard work reduced to a pile of sand.

Dill says the other artists participating in the competition immediately agreed to share the winner’s prize money with the artists of the damaged sculptures.

She says the sculptures are being repaired.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 12, 2026.

The Canadian Press