NORTH ADAMS — Hours before hundreds of families kicked off their shoes and picked up their sand pails at the Eagle Street Beach on Thursday, city workers, volunteers and even the mayor spread the 500,000 pounds of sand that make the annual beach party possible.

Starting around 1 p.m., the public works and building departments hauled dump truck loads of sand, donated by Specialty Minerals, and spread it across the downtown block, continuing the 26-year tradition that transforms Eagle Street into one of North Adams' signature summer events.

The Eagle Street Beach was first created in 1999 by North Adams artist Eric Rudd as a block-long community sculpture. Rudd views it as both public art and a community celebration, with thousands attending each year to make sand sculptures and chill in the sun.

Hours before the 26th annual Eagle Street Beach Party even begins, 50,000 pounds of white sand are trucked in from Specialty Minerals in Adams and dumped on the street where workers spread it out with shovels and rakes. At least 24 truckloads of sand are delivered with five different dumptrucks.

Hundreds of families showed up from 4 to 8 p.m. to play in the sand, but for John Treski, the best part comes before the crowds arrive. For the seventh year, he made the trek from his apartment to watch city workers, volunteers and Mayor Jennifer Macksey spread the sand. He rarely stays for the party.

“It’s interesting watching them work, it’s all down to a science,” Treski said. “And I like to watch the mayor do it, she scoops, and I don’t have to do it.”

The party used to be held on weekends, but Macksey said it’s easier to get municipal workers and volunteers to help with the sand-spreading during the workweek.

Hours before the 26th annual Eagle Street Beach Party even begins, 50,000 pounds of sand are trucked in from Specialty Minerals in Adams and dumped on the street where workers spread it out with shovels and rakes.

By 4 p.m., the music was bumping and the sand pails, donated by businesses like Greylock Federal Credit Union, were being used to prepare for the sandcastle competition and transform people into sand mermaids.

“Where else in the world is there a street full of sand?” Lily Dech, 12, said as she dug holes with her younger sister, Emily. The girls were visiting from Ohio with their mother, Nikki, a North Adams native.

“I made sure my kids came up for this before we go to the circus and this is awesome for them," said Nikki.

Emily agreed.

Hours before the Eagle Street Beach Party begins, 50,000 pounds of sand are trucked in from Specialty Minerals and dumped on the street where workers spread it out with shovels and rakes.

“It’s all sand on a big, big street and no one can drive over us,” she said when asked what she liked about the party.

North Adams resident Isabella Leger has brought her son Elliot, 3, every year since he was born. Elliot, who Leger said has autism and is “very sensory,” loves playing in the sand and is a “big water boy.”

“He gets to have all the fun he wants here,” she said. “It’s a great way for the community to get together and for him to interact with other children.”

Steeple City Social co-owner Andrew Fitch said the party brings in new and different foot traffic that would not otherwise frequent his cafe and cocktail bar. He planned to draw people in after the beach closes with a margarita after-party.

“We get to introduce ourselves to a whole new population, which is huge,” he said. “We also get to remind everyone that Eagle Street is popping…people get to see all the new shops that are opening down here.”

Hours before the 26th annual Eagle Street Beach Party even begins, 50,000 pounds of sand are trucked in from Specialty Minerals in Adams and dumped on the street where workers spread it out with shovels and rakes. At least 24 truckloads of sand are delivered with five different dumptrucks.

And every year, Rudd said people ask, “what happens to all the sand?”

Once the beach closes at 8 p.m., public works returns and scoops it all back up into trucks. Since it can’t be reused for the next party, Commissioner Tim Lescarbeau said it's used for everything from filling holes after water main breaks to sewer repairs and road construction projects.

The sand is stored in the public works yard, he said. The city doesn’t use all the sand by the time the next beach party rolls around, and how much it uses depends on the year.

Rudd was grateful for the increasing help the city has provided each year to get the sand down, remembering the years of blisters from shoveling and begging around the city for volunteers.

“This year, I didn’t have to touch a shovel and that is great,” said Rudd.

But aesthetically, Rudd prefers a hilly beach and said he is going to teach volunteers next year to not spread the sand as thin. But physically, “boy I’m happy,” he said.

And he likes that the event is a chance for kids to try their hand at sculpting. And for families that can’t swing a beach vacation, “this is their Coney Island.”

Rudd, a contemporary artist who owns Beaver Mill artist studios and the Berkshire Art Museum, said he created the event shortly after the opening of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, about half a mile away from Eagle Street.

“The amount of local people that said, ‘the museum isn’t for people like me,’” he said. “I created this beach [to show] that those sculptures in Mass MoCA and these being made here today, there’s not that big of a difference. Some day, one of these kids might be the next famous sculptor.”