Sand sculptors of all ages flocked to Isle of Palm’s Front Beach for the Piccolo Spoleto Festival’s 33rd Sand Sculpting Contest. The competition was split up into four age categories: kids, young adult, family and adult. Judging was based on age bracket, and everyone qualified for the creativity and architecture categories.
Creativity shone through unexpected mash-ups, pun-derful sculpture titles and pop culture references. The rain held off until the final moments of the awards ceremony, where “Pain in the Gas,” inspired by the high gas prices, won best overall.
Cheers from this year’s competitors celebrated the long overdue win for Neil Haldrup. (Photo by Nat Bono) 
Kelsie Justice jumped for joy when her team won third place in most creative for “The One Where They Went to the Beach.” (Photo by Katherine Kiessling) 
Kelsie Justice takes a photo of teammate and fellow “Friends” superfan Caroline Beer. “The One Where They Went to the Beach” won third place in most creative. (Photo by Katherine Kiessling) 
“Beachill,” created by Melissa and Ronan Merriam and Tessa and Kennedy Lisiecka, won second place in most creative. (Photo by Katherine Kiessling) 
Ronan Merriam and Tessa Lisiecka carefully took the mold off their ice cream cone sculpture. Lisiecka said she had butterflies in her stomach as she removed the mold. (Photo by Riley Utley) 
David Burt walks away with a brand-new bike after winning first in the adult category. (Photo by Nat Bono) 
“Danger Zone,” which won first place in the adult category, was the result of a brainstorming session the day before the event and an hour and a half of pure shoveling. The team knew they wanted to incorporate “Top Gun” and the Ukrainian flag; adding a Minion to the mix came after they realized the latest movie in the “Despicable Me” franchise comes out soon. (Photo by Katherine Kiessling) 
David Burt carves out the phrase “Danger Zone” in a piece partly inspired by the movie “Top Gun.” He started competing in the Sand Sculpting Competition in 1999. (Photo by Katherine Kiessling) 
David Burt carved the words “Danger Zone” into the cloud of the jet breaking the sound barrier. (Photo by Nat Bono) 
“Baby Fin Friends” depicted a mermaid and a dolphin swimming together. Jack Tracey said they added the shells because “everything is better covered in shells.” (Photo by Riley Utley) 
Hank Tracey helped his grandparents and brother build a sand drip wall around their sculpture to add detail to the piece. His brother Jack Tracey said building the wall took two hours, and it made his arms hurt. (Photo by Riley Utley) 
Longtime competitor Jack Tracey worked with his wife, Jan, and grandsons Jack and Hank on an underwater-inspired sculpture. The family practiced bits of the design off and on for about a week. (Photo by Katherine Kiessling) 
“Surfing With a Porpoise” was created by Colin Stephenson, Ryan Stephenson, Kevin Reagan and Tyler McHone. They sculpted dolphins of all sizes emerging out of a wave. (Photo by Riley Utley) 
Kris Donavan and Bobby, Caleb and Josh Funcik celebrate winning first place in the family category for “Beware of the Undertoad.” (Photo by Katherine Kiessling) 
Josh Funcik (5), competing in his first sand sculpting competition to create “Beware of the Undertoad,” won first in the family category. (Photo by Nat Bono) 
Caleb Funcik (7) flopped on the ground to explain how the team drew the shape of the toad for their sculpture, “Beware of the Undertoad.” (Photo by Riley Utley) 
Adding final touches to the “toad-ally” awesome “Undertoad,” Bobby Funcik has been competing in the sand sculpting competition for many years and loved competing with his sons Josh and Caleb and mother, Kris Donavan. (Photo by Nat Bono) 
“Holy City,” an homage to Charleston, won third place in architecture. (Photo by Nat Bono) 
Lana Rossi (8) shovels sand for an ice cream cone sculpture that she made with her little sister and dad. This was her first year competing, and she said she would probably do it again. (Photo by Katherine Kiessling) 
“Cheeseball” Rossi (5) and her dad, Hayes Rossi, shoveled lots of sand to create their ice cream cone. (Photo by Riley Utley) 
Hayes, Lana (8), and “Cheeseball” (5) Rossi worked together to create an ice cream cone, an American flag and a crown adorned with the word “Liberty.” “Cheeseball” loves chocolate ice cream with plenty of sprinkles. (Photo by Nat Bono) 
John Sease, Sooshi Chris and Dustin Johnson pose with their drippy sculpture “Drip-opotamus,” which won First Place in Architecture. (Photo by Nat Bono) 
John Sease, Sooshi Chris and Dustin Johnson have competed in the competition for many years and always build their structures with the drip method. They also have never arrived with a plan – they always freestyle their design. (Photo by Riley Utley) 
John Sease adds details to the intricate inside of the sculpture “Drip-opotamus.” (Photo by Nat Bono) 
This year the Pun Daddies took home third place in the architecture category for “Fish Tank.” It was a tall fish in a military tank that was promoting keeping the beach clean. (Photo by Riley Utley) 
Tommy Freeman, the team captain of the Pun Daddies, as they like to call themselves, has been creating punny creations for more than 10 years. (Photo by Riley Utley) 
Tommy Freeman pounds down sand into a homemade mold. This would later get carved into a happy fish driving a tank. (Photo by Katherine Kiessling) 
Neil Haldrup has been competing in the sand sculpting competition for 18 years, and this was the first time his team won best of show overall. (Photo by Riley Utley) 
The team behind “Pain in the Gas,” the best of show overall winner, wanted to go for something current with a humorous twist. (Photo by Katherine Kiessling) 
Neil Haldrup, Chris Burdett , Chris Miller and Greg Smith celebrate winning best of show overall. (Photo by Nat Bono)
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