When I was a kid, I used to spend hours of blood, sweat and tears making sand castles, only to have all my efforts washed away by those evil waves. I got no trophy, no praise, not even a participation award. If only I had been raised in East Lyme!

For the 18th year in a row, East Lyme will have its Celebrate East Lyme festival where young’uns can get rewarded for their sand-castle-making abilities at the annual Sand Castle Competition. In addition to this treasured tradition, a one-mile section of Pennsylvania Avenue and Main Street will be shut down for the festival to accommodate 200 vendors from the area. Local artists and business owners will display and sell their crafts, boosting the “buy local” mantra that East Lyme is promoting.

People attending Celebrate East Lyme can raise money for a charity by sending someone crashing into water at the Dunk Tank (yes, it’s as fun as it sounds) and become a pro chef by watching live cooking demonstrations. In the mood for some tunes? Several stages will be set up on Main Street to accommodate local bands playing a variety of musical genres.

Still can’t get enough fireworks after Independence Day has come and gone? Stick around to the end of the night for the fireworks display over Niantic Bay for the celebration’s finale at 9 p.m.

Celebrate East Lyme, 3-9 p.m. Saturday, Pennsylvania Avenue/Main Street, East Lyme; eastlymeparks@gmail.com.