VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Despite weekend weather that caused the cancellation of Saturday morning's Neptune Grand Parade, visitors and sand sculptors at the 51st annual Neptune Festival in Virginia Beach remained optimistic, finding joy in the artistic displays and festivities.
Among the 32 international sand sculptors competing at the festival is Wilfred Stijger from the Netherlands, whose love story began in the sand. While working on a sculpture, he accidentally tapped someone with his shovel.
"I was digging in the sand and I hear ouch! And I cleaned, and oh, there was my wife there. And we've never been apart from that moment," Stijger said.
Stijger and his wife are both professional sand sculptors who travel worldwide for competitions. Their Neptune Festival duo team creation this year centered around the theme of a dream.
"We had an idea, which was 'dream,' and then it's nice, so in a dream, it appears you you, right?" Stijger said.
Weather concerns are constant for sand sculptors, but Stijger appreciated that Neptune Festival housed all sculptures under tents for protection.
"Outside, is all the things that I hate, is too much wind and too much rain, it'll just create this texture on the sands," Stijger said.
Festival visitors Richard and Rosemary Scott from Chester, Va. decided to take their chances with the weather forecast.
"We weren't sure about the weather, but we decided to take a chance, and it looks like so far, it's paid off," Scott said.
Kit Chope, president and CEO of Virginia Beach Neptune Festival, said attendance numbers haven't suffered despite the weather concerns.
"Yesterday, anecdotally we had a very, very busy, if not, well above average day on the boardwalk with the concerts, with the vendors, the artists, this sand gallery. Today, the crowds along the Oceanfront are great," Chope said.
Sculptors like Stijger are already looking forward to next year's 52nd annual Neptune Festival.
Festival visitors can still vote for their favorite sand sculptures in the people's choice awards category in the sand sculpture tent through Sunday.
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