Pearl Lorentzen

Lakeside Leader

Devonshire Beach has a long history of sandcastle competitions, but until last year there hadn’t been a competition for a while. Now the organizers are upping the ante and offering two full days of beach fun.

Beach Fest is August 12 and 13. It is organized by the Slave Lake Region Tourism Society.

“There’s a couple big things,” says Connie Baird, one of the organizers.

These are the West Fraser Sandcastle Competition, Dog Island Cup paddle board race, and a beer garden.

Main events
For several years about 20 years ago, the Devonshire Beach sandcastle competition was very popular.
“It was huge, huge,” says Baird. One year the top prize was a trip for four to Disneyland. This year, each of the four categories have cash prizes.

After a break of several years, a group of people held one last summer.

“This (Beach Fest) sort of evolved from that,” says Baird. After the first competition, they wanted to improve and decided to make it “more of a two-day event with lots of other stuff going on. We’ve got that beautiful beach, why not make use of it.”

The sandcastle competition is Saturday, August 12 from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the wheelchair access on Devonshire Beach. Categories are family, open, youth (10 to 17 years), and children (under 10 years). Teams can have a maximum of eight people. Early registration is $30 per team. Registration on the day is $50. The link for early registration is on the Slave Lake Region’s Facebook page.

The Dog Island Cup is a fun race, open to any human powered floating device such as kayaks, paddle boards, canoes, etc. The first Dog Island Cup was a stand-alone event in 2019, organized by Stan Pepper. The second was in August 2021 as part of All In Slave Lake.

People wanting to compete in the race should meet at the Devonshire Beach wheelchair access at 11 a.m. The race is from noon to 2 p.m. It costs $20 per entry. For more information contact Pepper at 780-805-0434. The grand prize is a blow-up paddle board.

The beer gardens, entertainment, bonfire, and fireworks are new this year. The bonfire starts at 6 p.m. and runs until 10:30 p.m. At 7 p.m., the beer garden, music and games on the beach starts. Fireworks will be at 10:30 p.m. This is all at the wheelchair access.

Everything else
Devonshire Beach is a few minutes north of Slave Lake in Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park. Beach Fest is at the wheelchair access to Devonshire Beach off of Beach Road. The road will be converted to a one-way, accessible at the Devonshire camping area and exiting west of the golf course. However, there will also be free transportation from Slave Lake. People park where the carnival rides were for Riverboat Daze. This is on the east side of Hwy. 88 across from 6th Ave. SE. Buses will take people on the hour from Slave Lake to the beach and return on the half hour.

Organizers are looking for lots of volunteers to take two-hour shifts in various areas, but especially to control traffic.

“Dogs are not allowed on that part of the beach,” says Baird, so people must leave their pets at home.
Both days, food trucks will be on the beach road and extra washrooms. People will need to bring their own chairs or blankets, as no chairs or tables will be set up.

All three larger events are on Saturday, but will be moved to Sunday if Saturday is rainy.

“We’re going to keep our fingers crossed,” says Baird.

Beach Fest has a full schedule from 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.

List of events:

Saturday, August 12

  • 7 to 8:30 a.m. Sunrise Beach Walk/Run
  • 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. – sandcastle competition 
  • noon to 2 p.m. – (paddlers meet at the wheelchair access at 11 a.m.) – Dog Island Cup
  • 2 to 5 p.m. – two kids’ Shows featuring D.J. Warkentin
  • 4 to 6 p.m. – Indigenous cultural event (tentative)
  • 6 to 10:30 p.m. bonfires on the beach
  • 7 to 10:30 p.m. beer gardens on the beach, music and games on the beach
  • 10:30 p.m. fireworks on the beach

    Sunday, August 13
  • 8 to 9 a.m. – sunrise yoga on the beach
  • 9 to 11 a.m. breakfast on the beach
  • 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – beach volleyball (to register as a team or individual contact Lindsay Baird at baird.linsday@gmail.com)
  • 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. – art on the beach (an opportunity to make art)
  • noon to 2 p.m. – cardboard boat races for adults and kids.
One of the entries in the 2022 Sand Castle competition on Devonshire Beach. This year, the West Fraser Sandcastle Competition is part of Beach Fest which is August 12 to 13 at the Devonshire Beach wheelchair access.