With the participation of international sculptors, the Danish town of Hundsted opened on Monday (June 15th) the activities of the 15th edition of the annual Sand Sculpture Festival.
Inspired by the medieval atmosphere of this year's event, prominent sculptors and artists from across Europe and the world recreate vivid scenes from life in that historical era, as well as crafting legends and fantasy tales rising from the sand in the form of royalty, knights and dragons adorning the beach.
"We also discovered some local stories from Denmark, including a very large market that existed at the time, which is very similar to the medieval version of the current Temu platform," said Christian Farrer, organiser of the Hunstead Sand Sculpture Festival.
Farrer added that the sculptors and artists loved this subject and reacted strongly to it, as it is full of visual images and inspiring stories that give them ample space to create.
Quarry sand and mud
European artistic circles told Euronews that although sculptors only have a few short days and short periods to complete their intricate sand masterpieces, the festival continues to open its doors and receive the public for a long time, making the element of resilience and long-term survival very important in the evaluation and engineering design of the works.
For this reason, these massive, gravity-defying sculptures should be made of a more cohesive and solid material than traditional beach sand castles, instead of relying on ordinary beach sand, special sand extracted directly from quarries is used, as it contains a specific percentage of clay that helps the sand grains harden and hold very hard until they become hard like stone, making it able to withstand rainfall and changing weather factors throughout the show.
'Game of Kings' highlights Dutch sculptor's skill
Among the highlights of the work is "Game of Kings" by Dutch sculptor Joris Kivits, who has been working in the field of sand sculpture for more than 20 years.
In his sculpture, Kivits depicts a historical meeting of medieval rulers from different cultures sitting around a chessboard.
"I looked at some of the documented historical references about chess, and I really liked that kings, across different cultures and civilizations, would visit each other and enter each other's homes specifically to play chess," Kivits said.
60,000 visitors expected as festival continues its activities for 2026
According to estimates and organizational plans, the festival is expected to attract more than 60,000 citizens and foreign tourists this year.
Danish beaches are an annual platform for pioneers of fine art and sculpture from different countries of the European continent and the world.
The 15th edition of this unique festival blends history and engineering tactics to ensure that sand sculptures survive long periods beyond the traditional summer seasons, transforming raw material extracted from nature into visual evidence that tells the tales of kings and knights and attracts tens of thousands of interested people and tourists until autumn 2026.
The annual Hunstead Sand Sculpture Festival in Denmark will continue to receive regular visitors until October 18, 2026.
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