Every July and August, Parksville's beach hosts the Canadian Open Sand Sculpting Competition, one of the country's largest sand sculpting events. Professional sculptors from across Canada and internationally compete to build elaborate, often monumental figures in the sand — the standard of work is genuinely impressive, and the exhibition period that follows lets visitors walk among the finished pieces for several weeks.
The competition began in 1999 and has grown into the town's signature summer event. Even if you do not time your visit for the competition itself, the beach at this point in the summer is typically at its best, and the event gives Parksville a bit of character that its otherwise fairly quiet resort-town identity can use.