Sand Sculpture at Weston super Mare of The Hunger Games by Marielle Heessels 2

The Weston-super-Mare Sand Sculpture Festival has been held annually since 2005 on the beach at

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...

in the English county of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. The festival has earned Weston the title of “Sand Sculpting Capital” of the UK. The artists at the

Sand festival Sand festivals or festivals of sand sculpture are exhibitions of sculptures made of sand carried out in various places around the world. These events usually include a competition. Traditional sand sculptures are sandcastles. However, at sand ...

use

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class o ...

and water to make sculptures. The exhibition is open from April until October each year. The first festival in 2006 used 30 tonnes of sand, and featured a giant

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

. By 2014 approximately 5,000 tonnes of sand from the beach was used by 20 international artists to create exhibits.

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the ...

initially sponsored the event, however in 2012 they stopped their funding and alternative sponsors were sought. The 2013 festival was themed around Hollywood.

2014 festival

Sand Sculpture at Weston super Mare of A Midsummer Nights Dream

The 2014 festival was based on the a theme of Once Upon a Time and included exhibits from traditional children's stories such as

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was ...

, ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creature ...

'', and ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, tele ...

''. It also included some which had recently been made into films such as '' Game of Thrones'', ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...

'' and ''

The Hunger Games ''The Hunger Games'' is a series of young adult dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The first three novels are part of a trilogy following teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and the fourth book is a prequel set 6 ...

''. £2,000 was donated for the development of art education at the site by the Town Council. Art students from

Weston College Weston College of Further and Higher Education is a general college of further and higher education in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. It provides education and vocational training from age 14 to adult. The college provided education to ...

assisted with some of the creation of the sculptures. In May three of the 30 sculptures were damaged by vandals.

References

External links

* *{{official, http://westonsandsculpture.co.uk/ Arts festivals in England Weston-super-Mare Sand art Festivals in Somerset