For three days, sculptures made of golden-brown sand transform Revere Beach into a fleeting art gallery.
Melineige Beauregard competed as an artist in the Revere Beach International Sand Sculpting Festival for almost a decade. Now she is part of the group Broken Glass, which coordinates the sculpting contest. Standing near a sculpture of a giant birthday cake covered in candles and festooned with ribbons, she reflected on the event’s impact.
“Revere Beach was underrated for a while, but this has changed,” she said.
Residents and local officials say the Revere Beach festival, now in its twentieth year, has played a major role in restoring the first public beach in America to its old days of glory — and it has given the city of Revere an economic boost, too.
The annual event attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from near and far. Its artists also represent a range of cultures. The 16 sculptors this year have traveled here from across the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Poland and as far away as Japan.
“The sculptors coming from around the world are evidence of the growth of this festival and how it is enhancing Revere,” said longtime resident Bob Upton, owner of the community website reverebeach.com.
Upton sees the festival as a time to celebrate the diversity of cultures represented in the city today.
In addition to the sand sculptures, the event includes live music — from steelpan to Americana — and hosts 75 vendors and food trucks offering New England, Mexican, Dominican and Colombian cuisines.
Angelica Cardona, a Colombian entrepreneur who just opened a new cafe, Chocolaffee, on Dehon Street near the beach, said she appreciates how the festival allows business owners like her participate.
“This festival is very important for us as entrepreneurs because we are able to promote our products to people who come from all over the world. … A lot of vendors and entrepreneurs are local, and we want to make the city better,” she said.
According to the mayor’s office, a survey of festival attendees the conducted last year found that 1 in 5 were visiting from outside the Boston area. And of those out-of-town attendees, nearly 60% contributed to the local economy by staying in Revere’s hotels, and visiting local shops and restaurants.
Mayor Patrick M. Keefe Jr. welcomes the festival each year and the economic growth it fosters for Revere’s business community. For him, the festival’s wide draw is an affirmation of its success.
“Thousands of visitors travel from all over the country. They are not only coming from Medford or Chelsea, but also from Oklahoma, New Orleans, Florida,” he said.
Overcoming the reputation of a city in decline
After the first public visitors stepped on the sands in 1895, Revere Beach quickly became one of New England’s favorite places of leisure. An amusement park was added in 1906, but it didn’t last long.
By World War II, Revere Beach began its decline. The city economy suffered as established families moved to more affluent suburbs. A series of business failures, fires and natural disasters left the beach in poor repair, resulting in decreased attendance and a reputation that it was a dangerous place.
In 2001, the Revere Beach Partnership formed to preserve the beach and contribute to its redevelopment. That led to the creation in 2004 of the sand-sculpting festival.
“The beach had an undeserved reputation of being unsafe and dirty,” said Kristen Karshis, the partnership’s president. “That changed 15 years ago. The partnership contributed to this by creating leisure activities which attract visitors.”
Howard Singer, a native of Boston, visited the festival for the first time this year.
“When I was growing up, Revere Beach wasn’t such a great attraction. It wasn’t as clean,” he recalled. “But Revere has done a remarkable job of cleaning everything up, making it attractive and emphasizing community.”
In addition to the festival, there are five initiatives for community engagement and educational programs to help visitors and residents of the city converge. The goal is to create an inclusive community, encourage environmental conservation and help with restoration of the pavilions and the William G. Reinstein Bandstand.
The festival and the Revere Beach Partnership are also thinking about the future.
“We want to promote sports that involve the use of the beach and with this, help the visitors and our diverse community create stronger ties with the beach,” Karshis said.
As for longtime resident Upton, he appreciates the progress that the festival has already brought for the community.
“That something so big, so beautiful, so creative, can be held at America’s first public beach, I think, is the main point of pride for many people,” he said.
The Revere Beach International Sand Sculpting Festival takes place July 19-21. You can see the sand sculptures from Revere Beach Boulevard, not far from the Revere Beach stop on the MBTA Blue Line.
