In Pursuit of The Worthwhile: Weston Sand Sculpture Festival

Sunday, 14 April 2013

Weston Sand Sculpture Festival

This weekend, I took up a very lovely offer from my Aunt and her husband to go and stay with them for a bit in their home town of Weston-Super-Mare.

The new Grand Pier at Weston-Super-Mare

We had plans for a lovely outdoorsy weekend, but sadly the Somerset weather had other ideas! Our long walks in the countryside were swapped for short strolls in the rain, but there was still plenty to do: I finished another book – Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones. I nearly finished my Japanese Flower Scarf – just two smooshy flowers left to hook. We visited the Thatchers Cider Shop at Myrtle Farm, Sandford where I bought a selection of specialist ciders as a welcome home present for my husband, for when he gets back in a couple of weeks (He is a lucky husband! ;) I enjoyed good food at my Aunt and Uncle’s dinner party, and good music when we went to watch my Uncle’s band play at a local pub. We also did a couple of short walks in Cheddar (the place with the cheese and the gorge) and Weston itself.

Now I hadn’t realised this, but apparently the beach at Weston-Super-Mare has ideal sand for sand sculpting. This has something to do with the sharp jagged edges of the sand particles, meaning that they sort of lock together and hold the structure of your sandcastle or whatever you are making. But there are some very clever people who don’t stop at just sandcastles. Oh no. They make huge, full on sculptures out of the sand, and this has led to Weston having a Sand Sculpture Festival! They have a theme – the theme for 2013 is ‘Hollywood’ – and sand sculptors from around the world come to build their creations. Some of the sculptors have even won awards for their skills!

The sculptures are made just out of wet sand, no internal structures or cement or anything else to help with the moulding. The only thing that is added is some type of coating which is sprayed on once they are finished to help protect the outside. Sadly this year’s weather has not been kind to the sculptures and frost has caused cracking and breakages to them all, some more than others. They have plans in place for getting the damage fixed, so they will all be restored to their full glory. You have to pay a few pounds for entry to the display, so in the meantime the organisers are stamping your tickets to show that you have visited while they were damaged, and you can use this stamped ticket to get free entry again later on so you can see the sculptures as the artists intended.