Ballybunion is an ideal location for beach art with its vast stretches of beautiful fine sands and the natural viewing points from the cliffs, walkways and Castle Green. In May, the Wild Atlantic Way Sand Art Event brings a host of national and international sand artists to Ballybunion’s beaches to showcase examples of spectacular sand art on a large scale over several
days.
Ballybunion has the most perfect beaches for Sand Art, with the cliffs as perfect viewing points. Sand Art is a fantastic form of meditation for the artist, but also for the viewer. With hundreds of people watching the art and taking photos throughout the week, social media exploded with interest, queries and beautiful comments from near and far.
Part of the event sees local children and community groups embracing the beach as a canvas for unleashing their creativity, guided by the pros. In 2019, 207 children and adults helped to create 2 new world records: The most people to make sand art on a beach at the same time and the most circles that have ever been drawn on a beach. 8280 circles were drawn using wild
bamboo sticks and rakes. In 2020, it is intended to officially break the world record with the Guinness Book of Records in attendance to verify the figures.
The main event involves numerous artists working simultaneously on each of Ballybunion’s four beaches – the Long Strand, Men’s Beach, Ladies’ Beach and Nuns’ Beach – each with their own unique creations, from mandalas to Celtic knots, sea creatures to swirls and spirals. Who knows, one day you might see an enormous sea monster stretching from the cliffs all the way
down to the Cashen.