After an incredible and busy summer of sand sculpting, my last trip to the beach of the year approached. Following the fantastic workshops with the Met Office at Green Man in August produced by Einstein’s Garden, we teamed up again in October as part of the Arts by the Sea festival in Bournemouth.
The guys at the Met Office making some great skyscrapers and castles
I headed down on the Friday afternoon and finally arrived at the South Coast late in the evening with just enough time to eat and get some rest before the weekend of workshops. It was great that we had trained many people from the Met Office to lead the workshops and we had a few fresh faces that we showed the ropes.
Loads of people getting stuck in at the workshop
The sand was ideal for sculpting and having the beach for the workshops gave us lots more space than we had at the festival (and a lot more sunshine!). The first workshop is always the quietest giving us time to set up and get ready for later in the day when we were really busy.
Some of the workshop creations
It has been really interesting for us to work with the Met Office and learn all about the work they do and also share with them some of our top sandcastle building techniques! They were interacting with the crowds that gathered during the day using the sandscape to demonstrate pollen and pollution travel within our cities and how planning helps to minimize the effects. We also did various demonstrations at the end of the workshops including using dry ice to show the fresh air travelling over the hills.
The crowds gathered for the demonstration
The weekend was great with the second day being really busy and lots of people had the chance to join in and create their own master piece. After two days of gruelling sand castle building, I tucked into my fish and chips then I enjoyed the rest of the festival on a beautiful evening.
Our pollen magnifying glass
It was great to share skills and collaborate with some lovely people to make a great event. Thank you to everyone at the Met Office, Arts by the Sea Festival and Ellen and Alex from Einstein’s Garden at Green Man. Festival.
