2nd Annual Sand Bash Event Coming to Fort Myers Beach & Tin City

March 21, 2012 - PRLog -- Get ready to get sandy! The Fort Myers Beach 2nd Annual Sand Bash event is coming soon and promises to be better than ever! This year, there’s a sister event a week later at historic Tin City in Naples – Tin City Wine Tasting and Sand Sculpting Festival. Plus, event coordinators have added a wine tasting festival component to both events and will be coordinating with the 6th Annual Fort Myers Beach Film Festival.

The Fort Myers Beach event will take place at the Holiday Inn April 20th through April 29th and the Tin City event will run April 27th through May 6th. The Fort Myers Beach event will have a movie theme, featuring sculptures from movies from the 1930s to today while the Tin City event is themed “Wines from Around the World”. Both events will be entirely protected from the elements – via a massive tent on the beach and under the covered parking area at Tin City.

“It's an amazing experience, especially if you have never had the chance to go to a wine tasting, or if you have never had the chance to meet one-on-one with consulting winemaker’s, what a better place than on the beach”, said Michael Patterson, General Manager of the Holiday Inn.

New this year, Sand Bash is coordinating with the 6th Annual Fort Myers Beach Film Festival (http://www.fmbfilmfest.com/). On Friday night, April 27th, an oversized inflatable movie screen will be set up at the Holiday Inn to show films.

“Sand Bash has successfully brought so much attention to Fort Myers Beach, we are honored to partner with this fun event by bringing films to the beach”, commented Mark List, Chairman of the Fort Myers Beach Film Festival Board. “Park yourself on a beach chair or blanket and settle in for a free entertaining evening” List added.

Guests are welcome to attend daily 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. from April 20th until the 29th. There will be many interactive activities for guests to partake in including:

•   Watch world-renowned sand sculptor, John Gowdy, create a painting on a spinning canvas to music known as “Flying Colors”. Once complete, John’s paintings are auctioned with a portion of the sale going to a local charity.
•    Kid’s activities area with bounce houses, water slides and more
•   Chain Saw Art Demonstrations with world-renowned Canadian artist Craig Mutch
•   Sand Sculpting Demonstrations presented by The Sand Lovers
•   Photo Op sand sculptures
•   Two Amateur Sand Sculpting Contests for all ages
•   Over 50 vendors from around the country - offering food, beverages, specialty retail and arts & crafts
•   "Quick Sand," a speed sculpting competition presented by The Sand Lovers

The Sand Lovers, LLC, a professional sand sculpting company, and the Fort Myers Beach Holiday Inn have teamed up to produce the events. Master sculptors from around the world are coming to create new exhibition sculptures, something a bit different for Southwest Florida. Working without time limits, the sculptors’ work will be spectacular!

Over the past few years, The Sand Lovers has directly and indirectly donated over $130,000 to local charities from past sand sculpting events. “We always make it a point to give back to the local community through charity donations and this year’s Sand Bash will be no different”, said Marianne Knight, owner and professional sand sculptor.

For the Fort Myers Beach event, tickets are just $5.00 and children 5 and under are free. For a family of four, tickets are $18 and tickets to the Wine Tasting tent are $20 (includes sand access). For more information, please visit http://www.sandbash.com.

For Tin City viewing and wine tasting event are $15. For more information, please visit http://www.tin-city.com

LOCATION & TRANSPORTATION
The 2nd Annual Sand Bash will be held at the Holiday Inn on Fort Myers Beach located at 6890 Estero Boulevard on Fort Myers Beach. Attendees are encouraged to arrive from the south in order to avoid traffic congestion. Event directors have coordinated a revolving bus system to transport attendees from the Lover’s Key parking area to the site on the weekends.

The Naples Sand Bash event will be held at Tin City in Naples located at 1200 5th Avenue South.