Regarding Parking 2008
From SandFest Board of Directors

 

Many of you have asked about the changes in parking procedures at this year's SandFest, so let me explain.  SandFest, like all other public events, must obtain a permit and approval from the City.  We must provide certain things such as adequate porta-potties, and assurances that we will conduct a safe public event, etc.  SandFest and the City of Port Aransas are very careful about public safety.  As SandFest has grown larger, each year, some traffic issues have threatened the public welfare.  We have been warned many times, in the past, to prevent the double-parking as it narrows the roadway, creates bottle-necks, traffic jams and does not allow space for an emergency vehicle if one were needed.  We have posted signs and had extra volunteers try to stop people from parking illegally, behind our legally parked cars but we have not been able to stop the dozen cars which quickly turns into 50 then a hundred.  In the past we have had people park behind Doctors who were on-call at the hospital, behind handicapped people who needed to get out of the sun, behind our vendors who couldn't leave to replenish supplies...and worst of all, the traffic jam hampers any emergency vehicle from getting in, if needed.  Two days before SandFest 2007, the local police department, talked to SandFest about needing to make sure this did not happen again.  We have a committee working with the police department now trying to iron out all of the details so we won't have the same thing again in 2008 as in 2007.. 

We need the parking within our event grounds for vendors, volunteers to run the event, first aid staff, sculptors, and handicapped.  These are all necessary or there can be no SandFest.  The public needs to park outside our event grounds.  The police department suggested putting a barricade up at both ends, requiring our volunteers to be there to let event staff in and direct the public to park on the beach and walk or park at Sharkey's and ride the shuttle.  We had very little time to train volunteers to handle this nor enough volunteers.  With long lines, the volunteers had little time to spend with each person and some were not able to explain the situation well.  Thankfully, most drivers understood and went where they were directed.  A few were irate and would not listen to any reason.  This change was needed if SandFest was to continue.

 

We appreciate the Texas Treasure for operating a free shuttle from Sharkey's parking lot, however they were not able to confirm that until only about a week before SandFest which did not give us much time to promote it.  We are working with the City Manager and he has said the Parks & Rec bus would be available to help with shuttling people to the beach this year.  We are looking at parking at Roberts Point Park and catching the Parks & Rec bus or perhaps even the trolley which may take a bit longer route to get to Sandfest.

 

We are already making plans for 2008 and hopefully all the parking issues will be addressed and we can have a  safe event for everyone.  Allowing the public to drive their cars into the event grounds when there is no legal parking left doesn't make sense since the few spaces there are needed by the event, so don't be surprised if that is again the decision. 

 

We want to thank everyone who understood and a few who even thanked our parking volunteers, who many times where standing in the rain for hours.  SandFest is a great festival and we do everything we can to make it a safe event for all of us.  This was a difficult challenge for us and we did the best we could with short notice and a shortage of volunteers.  Hopefully, after reading this, most people will understand.  For those of you who still don't and decide not to attend in the future, that is OK too. 

We are very proud of the crowds that come to SandFest.  Typically, they are friendly, careful of the sculptures, help us keep the beach clean and support SandFest and any necessary rules needed to make it run smoothly and safely.  Remember you do need to purchase the $12 Beach Parking Sticker if you decide to park on the beach.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Texas Sandfest Board of Directors

P.S.  There will be better signs for parking and catching a shuttle to the beach.