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DISCOVER SANDCASTLES FESTIVAL
C.F.E.E. Case Study #1
Carla Marshall, Supervisor of Festivals & Events City of Burlington 426 Brant St. P.O. Box 5013 Burlington, ON L7R 3Z6 [email protected] www.burlington.ca/events ph: 905.335.7724
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION|FINAL ASSESMENT .................................................................................. 2
DISCOVER SANDCASTLES | EVENT OVERVIEW .................................................................. 2
discover sandcastles | history & growth .............................................................................................. 2
discover sandcastles | marketing .......................................................................................................... 4
marketing | branding ........................................................................................................................... 4
marketing | advertising & promotion................................................................................................ 4
marketing | media coverage .............................................................................................................. 6
DISCOVER SANDCASTLES SWOT ANALYSIS .................................................................. 7
DISCOVER SANDCASTLES CONCLUSION ....................................................................... 8
APPENDIX A TOURISM BURLINGTON EVENT SUMMARY .............................................. 9
APPENDIX B EVENT POSTER ........................................................................................ 13
APPENDIX C ON SITE SIGNAGE ................................................................................... 14
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discover sandcastles festival C A S E S T U D Y # 1
INTRODUCTION|FINAL ASSESMENT
This CFEE case study will demonstrate how the required courses were applied in the creation, planning,
marketing, and execution of this festival.
Discover Sandcastles was founded in 2007 to increase awareness and visitation to the
Burlington Beachway – a beautiful, natural sand beach on the shores of Lake Ontario.
DISCOVER SANDCASTLES | EVENT OVERVIEW
Discover Sandcastles is now Day 1 of a two day Children’s Festival weekend festival in Burlington, Ontario.
Located on the shores of Lake Ontario, Beachway Park features natural sand and is the perfect setting for the
Discover Sandcastles Festival. The event has grown from a small Master Sand Sculptor demonstration and
workshop (attendance: 150) to a full day festival featuring 3 master sand sculptors building larger than life
sand sculptures, an amateur sand sculpting completion, live entertainment, activities and a marketplace
(attendance: 3,500).
discover sandcastles | history & growth
The Burlington Beachway used to be a well kept secret. A small group of residents knew about the local gem
but otherwise it was not a well known attraction in or outside of Burlington. Occasionally, a request would
come through for a beach volleyball tournament but otherwise, it remained an under-utilized site. We did
some research to determine if there were plans to host any sandcastle themed activities on the beach and
found out that another department at The City of Burlington was trucking
sand into a community centre and hiring a Sand Sculptor to come out and
sculpt in this ‘exported’ sand. It seemed that Burlington needed a
Sandcastle celebration where the sand already was!
The plan was to test public response to the idea so the first year we hired
a Master Sand Sculptor to sculpt a seven foot sandcastle and invited the
public to watch it take shape. The last hour of the demonstration included
a workshop teaching attendees tricks to build their own sandcastle.
The response was extremely positive with 150 participants in the
workshop and countless others coming to admire the castle, which
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included a dragon and a princess. We received encouraging feedback, including inquiries for the next
Sandcastle event.
The second year, we repeated the demonstration and workshop format and easily doubled our attendance
and participation. We also decided to test a Sandcastle Competition on the weekend following the
demonstration. Promotion included both events and registrations were taken during the demonstration, which
added a revenue stream to the events and secured repeat visits to The Beachway.
After successfully testing both the Master Sand Sculptor Demonstration & Workshop and the Discover
Sandcastles Competition, we put both events together in 2009 to create the Discover Sandcastles Festival. The
full day event featured the Master Sand Sculptor, Competition and added entertainment components such as
live music, community exhibits and activities on the beach. We partnered with the Burlington Children’s Festival
to cooperatively market the event and offer residents and visitors a weekend of events at The Waterfront at
Downtown Burlington. This also allowed for cost savings in some event logistical and entertainment
requirements.
In 2010, we strengthened our partnership with The Burlington Children’s Festival and were awarded a
Celebrate Ontario Grant to enhance and green the two events. These additional funds ($30,000) allowed us
to enhance the entertainment, number of master sculptors and add a market place to Saturday’s event. These
enhancements contributed to increasing our Competition registration by 70% over 2009’s registration
numbers. A waste diversion centre was also created and staffed which resulted in the collection and diversion
of 100 kg of Blue Box materials, and 170 kg of Green Cart organics materials for 90% diversion rate for the
weekend.
Tourism Burlington also supported Discover Sandcastles in 2010 with a number of marketing initiatives and
staff onsite conducting surveys. For a report of their involvement and results, please see Appendix A: Tourism
Burlington Event Summary.
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discover sandcastles | marketing
The marketing of Discover Sandcastles originally focused on the Sandcastle theme of the events and activities,
however numerous partnerships has grown the original creative into a brand with a logo and recognizable
graphics.
marketing | branding
Free family fun on the beach was combined with the Children’s Festival same messaging of free fun for kids to
create a logo to brand the two days of programming together in 2009:
The hands represent children’s fun and brought this element in from past marketing pieces for Children’s
Festival. The placement of the hands create a sandcastle to represent Saturday’s theme and activities. As
Children’s Festival is coming up to its 20th year, it was decided to put both days’ activities under this well
known and long standing name.
marketing | advertising & promotion
Advertising and promotion for Discover Sandcastles and Children’s Festival included:
Waterfront Sandwich Board - displayed in Spencer Smith Park from May 24th, 2010 to September
6th, 2010
TV Commercial - aired on CHCH TV from July 19th to August 15th
Arena Board Advertising - displayed in City arenas a month prior to the event
Newspaper Ads – placed in 3 regional papers:
o Burlington Post 4 weeks prior to the event
o Oakville Beaver 2 weeks prior
o SNAP Burlington – August edition
Waterfront Events Flyer - 2000 event flyers distributed through all City of Burlington facilities
City Parent Ad
Children's Festival Poster - 100 posters displayed in all City of Burlington recreation facilities as well
as Children's Festival Sponsor locations and downtown storefronts (see Appendix B)
Web page www.burlington.ca/childrensfest including online registration for Sandcastle Competition
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Digital Screen Ad - displayed in all City of Burlington arenas from July 15th, 2010 to Aug. 15th, 2010
City Parent - Cover of Summer Holidaze publication
Read-o-graphs - message displayed on outdoor read-o-graphs in front of City of Burlington
recreation facilities from August 2nd to August 16th.
Live & Play recreation and leisure guide - ad + competition registration information in guide that is
distributed to over 70,000 households in Burlington
Free Event Web listings (e.g. FEO, Tourism Ontario on-line event calendars)
Event Program
Ice Cream Coupon - 100 coupons created for the St. Catherine's Travel Ontario Info Office on Friday
August 13th as part of a Tourism Burlington Promotion
Additional marketing done by Tourism Burlington included:
Visitor Guide Event Listing
Visitor Guide advertisement - Burlington events
Tear map advertisement - Burlington events
Festival and events brochure coop ad
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Tourism website listing
Tourism website feature box
Burlington Events Calendar
Tourism E-News Listing
Facebook and Twitter Listings
Tourism Burlington Day at St. Catherine's Ontario Travel Information Centre (Friday August 13th)
marketing | media coverage
One of the indicators that encouraged us to grow this festival has been the media coverage. Since the first
demonstration on the beach in 2007, the following media has followed and created buzz around this event:
CH television (Hamilton)
o CH Morning Live: Pre-event coverage/live interviews
o CH News at Noon: Pre-event coverage/live interviews
o CH Evening News: taped interview/event coverage
K-Lite FM (Hamilton)
o Community Calendar Event Listing
o Community Cruiser: Cut-ins during event
Hamilton Spectator
o Event listing: Too Good To Miss column
o Event photos and article
Burlington Post
o Event article: pre-event
o Cover, Photo feature, event article: post event
SNAP Burlington
o Event listing: Monthly Event Calendar
o Event photos and article
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DISCOVER SANDCASTLES SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths Weaknesses
Unique event – no other sandcastle festival
within 175 km
Venue – beautiful natural beach on shores of
Lake Ontario with rare sand dunes
Timing – shares weekend of Children’s
Festival for resource efficiencies. During peak
summer holidays.
Wide appeal – attendees range from
children & families to youth and seniors
Tourist attraction – brings in visitors from
outside of Burlington
Interesting programming mix
Beach area for event can be affected by
Lake water levels e.g. high water leaves less
beach area for event set up
Minimal parking on site
Location is somewhat remote from main
Waterfront facility
Mixed use property can make defining event
area challenging
Limited/shrinking marketing budget
Some limited awareness of beach location
and how to access (off main roadways)
Opportunities Threats
Competition growth – adding Youth category
in 2011
Programming growth – adding more Master
Sand Sculptors and musical entertainment in
2011
Revenue opportunities – exploring:
o sponsorship
o more vendors for expanded market
place, souvenir sales, etc.
o grants
Recent partnership/alliances with Children’s
Festival and Tourism Burlington will increase
event awareness and reach
City budget may be reduced with new council
goal of 0% tax increase
Burlington Master Beach Plan may position
Burlington Beachway for different uses
Location may not sustain rapid growth
New food services contract for on-site
concession may limit vendor opportunities
More Competition: Local community events
and neighbouring community events are
increasing in number and size.
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DISCOVER SANDCASTLES CONCLUSION
The growth and success of the Discover Sandcastles Festival is a result of a unique event in an exceptional
setting that has been well received and attended by both local residents and tourists. The Sandcastle
Competition will continue to grow as it now has a loyal following of competitors that have returned each year
and are planning to return in 2011. This will be augmented by new competitors that join each year.
Feedback received from the community, attendees, partners, and the media has been overwhelmingly
positive. Negative feedback has been connected to hopeful participants not being able to compete in the
Sandcastle Competition due to it selling out every year, especially in the Family Category. This allows us to
increase the number of spots we offer each year for the competition, which will more than double in its third
year (2011).
With the partnership and support of the Children’s Festival and Tourism Burlington, Discover Sandcastles will
gain credibility, and elevate its programming and features. Adding revenue streams will ensure that the event
is sustainable for years to come and can continue to grow to meet the expectations of its attendees, vendors,
and sponsors.
