Sand in the City

August 12th through 14th, 2010


Sand in the City, presented by Bank of the West, is a wonderful late-summer event to bring out family and friends to downtown Iowa City for a weekend of free entertainment. Giant sandboxes filled with fantastical sand sculptures will line Iowa Avenue (from Dubuque Street to Linn Street) as well as Linn Street (from Iowa Avenue to Washington Street).

Sand sculptures will be architected and constructed by teams representing some of the community's most beloved businesses and local organizations. Incredible sand sculptures will come to life through the collaborative and team building efforts of our teams.

The community has an opportunity to decide their favorites by contributing "sand" dollars in the name of the team building their favorite sculpture. Event goers will also be entertained by live music and an array of adult and kid friendly activities. Our participating businesses contribute not only their time but also financial resources that allows us to raise funds that help to support the Summer of the Arts festivals and events throughout the year.

Click here for a complete schedule of Sand in the City events.

How does it work?

Corporate, university, and local organizations have the opportunity to sponsor a sand team. Each sand team works with professional sand sculptors and local architects to build incredible sand sculptures using more than 200 tons of sand!

Support Summer of the Arts programming through the purchase of Sand Dollars. Sand Dollars can be used to:

  • Vote for your favorite sand sculpture to help a team winthe People’s Choice Award
  • Sand dollars get you into the Kids FUN Zone activity tent
  • Play games such as dunk tank and jumping castle
  • Purchase beverages at the Summer the Arts water tent