Sunsets at Pier 60 Festival: Stunning Fun in the Setting Sun
The call of conch shells resonates through the air, beckoning you to the Pier. You trek through sugar-white sand as the emerald green water slowly turns to pink-tinged waves crashing at your feet; the sky is a painter’s swirl of purple and gold. But unlike the dawn of some ancient battle, the shells’ reverberating cry denotes the day’s end and the beginning of a truly magical evening.
The Sunsets at Pier 60 Festival has begun.
The Foundation of a Festival
Pier 60 is situated on Clearwater Beach – a gorgeous stretch of white sand and azure waves on the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to adorable dolphin sightings, these natural attractions alone are enough to entice any beachgoer to this beautiful barrier island. However, Clearwater goes above and beyond, also offering its visitors endless entertainment, from shopping to parasailing – and of course, there’s great food, too!
It’s no wonder Clearwater Beach has been voted the number one beach in the U.S. and one of the world’s top ten beaches.1
The pinnacle of Clearwater’s achievement is surely the Sunsets at Pier 60 Festival, which seamlessly ties together nature’s beauty with the work of artisans in countless nights of pure fun.
Named for its location at the end of State Road 60, Pier 60 first opened in 1962 and quickly became the gathering point for Clearwater beachgoers.2 Sixty years later, the Pier is still a favorite destination at the end of the road and the end of the day.
Standing out over the Gulf with the wind teasing your hair, any spot on the 609-foot long Pier will afford you an awesome view of the white-capped ocean, and of course, the signature sunsets.
In 1995, every sunset became a reason to celebrate at Pier 60.3
Initially, only four nights a week, Clearwater’s festival invited both locals and visitors to enjoy an evening of free, family-friendly fun. Entertainment was provided by the arts and music community, who now had a dream venue for showcasing their wares. The twilit fete has since expanded to 364 nights a year (weather permitting), still holding true to its mission to enhance the guest experience, encourage the arts, and educate through nature.4
Astounding Artisans, Marvelous Musicians
From 6 to 10 p.m., as the rest of the world settles into the dusk, you can step into the twinkling light along Pier 60, which illuminates timeless crafts and the noble artisans who create them.
Draped in the aesthetic glow of sunset, what’s truly entrancing about the artwork here is the authenticity of each piece.
A prerequisite of participating as a seller in the Sunsets at Pier 60 Festival is that everything you offer must be handmade. Unlike most beachside souvenir shops, you’ll never find a “made in China” tag on anything bought at the Pier. When you take home a trinket, you’re taking back a real slice of Clearwater’s sunset-bathed shores.
Each of the nightly 25 to 30 artisans at the Sunsets at Pier 60 Festival is entirely unique. Some offer brilliant paintings which forever capture one of Clearwater’s stunning sunsets in loud acrylic or gentle watercolor. Others use charcoal to create on the spot, sketching your portrait in a matter of minutes.
Like a bit of bling? Bracelets strung with glass beads, shells, and shark teeth are sure to spice up your look. Carved wooden figurines can keep you company on your work desk back home, or the scent of a handmade candle can transport you back to the magic of Pier 60 with just a whiff – even if you’re lighting it in your Midwest living room.
Each enchanting piece is a memento specially crafted to help you relive the wonderful memories you make here.
When interviewed by the Tampa Bay Times, one artist explained his passion for the nightly Pier 60 tradition:
“It’s not a job. It’s something I love to do. I enjoy meeting people. I enjoy sharing my artwork. It’s been good to me. And I want to keep seeing sunsets.”5
The joy of the artists, the wonder of your fellow patrons, and the brightly colored sky envelopes you in an atmosphere of irresistible cheer.
As you bounce from booth to booth, strains of live music will have you walking down Abbey Road or through the streets of Margaritaville as street musicians play lively covers sure to make your soul shine.
On some nights, daring performers walk along the Pier in towering stilts or swallow fire, blazing as brightly as the sinking, blood-red sun. Wonders and astonishments are there to enthrall at every turn, every night, at the Sunsets at Pier 60 Festival!
Spectacular Sand Sculptures
Every April, there is a special addition to the nightly wonders of Sunsets at Pier 60 – the Sugar Sand Walk!
Each year during the Sugar Sand Festival, contestants are given a theme and tasked with building sculptures that emulate the theme in the most imaginative way possible. Then, the world-renowned sand artists gather beneath a 21,000 square foot tent to shape over 1,000 tons of sand into amazing, jaw-dropping creations.
The tent is also open for the public to walk through so that you can watch the artists at work and marvel at completed sculptures. It’s definitely worth scheduling your Clearwater vacation for April just to see this sandy spectacle!
When the sun finally sinks beneath the horizon and the artisans begin packing their wares and turning off their booth lights, the beach grows dark. The buskers have stopped playing. Only the waves are making music now, lapping against the Pier as if lulling it to sleep after a long day. As Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote, “Twilight drops her curtain down and pins it with a star.”6
But don’t let the quiet darkness fool you; the countdown until the next sunset has already begun. After all, the Sunsets at Pier 60 Festival is never more than a day away.
Cover Image
Photo: Unsplash
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