The event lead for Sandfest, a fundraiser for the Huntington Children’s Museum happening on Sept. 15 from 2 to 6 p.m., expects more people than previous years to attend. 

Stacy Hacker, Huntington Children’s Museum Board member and event lead for Sandfest, said she hopes to see 350 attendees throughout the day. She also said there are 19 teams competing for a trophy called the Golden Shovel in Sandfest’s sand sculpture competition, which is more teams than previous years.

“I always love hosting events because it just encourages you to go out and make more connections with Huntington in general,” Hacker said. “It just gets you out in the community talking to different people.”

Sandfest will feature other activities like mini golf, face painting and beach-themed games like volleyball for attendees to participate in alongside some activities related to science and the arts.

Tosha Pelfrey, president of the Huntington Children’s Museum, said the event was started three years ago by the museum as a way to raise funds while also promoting the idea of learning through play.

“It’s also really fun to see just how much kids love something as simple as sand,” Pelfrey said, “They get in the sand pits and they just have the best time.” 

She went on to say, “I also really enjoy watching the teams work together to create really, really extraordinary pieces of art. It’s amazing what some people can do with just a few hours and sand.”

While the money raised by Sandfest goes back to the museum in a variety of ways, Hacker was especially excited about the way the funds will help the accessibility of the museum.

“I’m most excited about the Museums for All initiative, which allows people or families that are struggling financially to be able to come in at a discounted rate, which just makes the museum more accessible to people in our community,” Hacker said.

Given the challenges of running an event like Sandfest, Pelfrey said she is thankful for having partners in the community like Marshall University to help.

“When I ended up meeting with some people from the university, they liked the idea and they wanted to partner with us,” Pelfrey said. “We were fortunate enough to find community partners who will help us with some of the challenging aspects of just managing that much sand.”