The annual Sand Sculpture Festival on the beach of the 300th anniversary park in St. Petersburg is definitely one of the most outstanding events of the summer in 2014. The festival was organized in collaboration with the charity fund “Solntse” (Sun) providing help to children in need of expensive medical care.

The Festival was opened on May 31st, although the work began much earlier in May when the test batches of special sand mixture were delivered to the exhibition site. It took the sculptors 24 full days to accomplish their work. In early June people could still come and watch artists finishing their creations.

One of them commented that the most crucial part of the process is to find the idea and composition. Then using all the sculptors tools like chisels and trowels as well as unusual handy objects such as spheres to achieve ideal surfaces, the masters pass onto the period of embodiment for their idea.

Although in June and early July the weather did not encourage beach activities, the masters have created ten beautiful sand compositions with subtle taste and in great detail. All of which withstood weather attacks – all were covered with a special glue layer – and now when the weather is more beach friendly they look exactly the same way as they were on the day they were completed.

The 7 meter Castle from Tolken’s Lord of the Rings is the center of attraction. Visitors can also enjoy the Oriental motifs: Indian and Egyptian deities, Dinosaurs, Characters from “Lord of the Rings”, Atlantis, as well as Russian historical heroes such as Alexander Nevsky.

The youngest visitors can experience some sand activities next to the masterpieces. More mature customers can challenge their creative abilities making photographs of the exhibits or portraying themselves against the sand sculptures. All that gives the exhibition an interactive aspect.

Courtesy Associated Press

But that is not all. The XXII International Festival of Sand Sculptures with a theme of “The Island of Fairy Tales” is being held on the beach of Peter and Paul Fortress. This festival was opened on July 10 and runs until August 31st. This year you can see characters from popular fairy tales by A. Pushkin, Ch. Andersen, Ch. Perrault and others.

Sculptors from Russia, Canada, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Lithuania, Austria, Germany, and Holland are involved in the show and have gone through a serious selection process to take part in the contest. The compositions were created in the course of 6 days. The honored jury consists of artists, sculptors, and designers will assess the works presented at the show and present awards.

For children special classes will be held where masters will show the basic principle of work with sand. Children will have an opportunity to participate in the children’s International contest of sand sculpture.

Curious beach lovers can visit both places and see what is more impressive.

Here is the collection of sand sculptures we took at this years competition:

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