Celebrating its 11th year, November 12-15, The Siesta Key Crystal Classic is a visual and cultural arts festival held on our #1 rated Siesta Beach. The Classic hosts over 300,000 attendees each year—with over 125,000 of these visitors hailing from outside of Sarasota County. 

Among the many family-friendly activities that the festival hosts during its four days, the event that keeps visitors coming back every year is the master sand sculpting competition that is held during the first three days of the festival’s opening. This competition attracts 24 master sculptors from all over the world who compete for 1^st place on Siesta Beach.

In just 24 sculpting hours, the master sculptors create sand masterpieces, some over 10-feet tall, and transform the always beautiful Siesta Beach into an outdoor art gallery. It represents some of the most beautiful, ephemeral works of art your eyes will ever see.

And it’s more than just sand—the festival also features live music daily along with a large village of shopping and food and drink vendors. Other activities include the popular three-day “Quick Sand” competition, sand sculpting lessons and an amateur competition. And, hours are extended on Saturday until 9 pm with colored lights on all the sculptures as well as live music by Fleetwood Max on Saturday night.

The 11th annual Siesta Key Crystal Classic takes place on Friday, November 12 through Monday, November 15, 2021. More information is available at siestakeycrystalclassic.com. 

Photo courtesy of Siesta Key Classic. Learn more here.