Nothing is built on stone; all is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone – Jorge Luis Borges.

The 14th International Sand Sculpting Festival was held at Revere Beach from July 21-23. It was predicted that close to a million people will attend this festival. 15 artists from all over the world participated in this festival and created magnificent pieces of art. This competition at Revere Beach is one of the top three sand sculpting competitions in the world. Fortunately, the weather in Revere cooperated with the artists. For the whole duration of the festival, there weren’t any unexpected showers.

Each sculptor was given 12 tons of sand to create the sculptures and an 18″x18″ space to display their master pieces. The artists were from United States, Canada, Russia, Lithuania, Netherlands, and Italy. The festival kicked off at 10 AM on July 21st and the artists had to create the sculptures by 2 PM the next day. The sculptures were judged and the prizes were given off at 6 PM on July 22nd. Prices ranging from $1750 to $5000 were awarded to the top five contestants.

The contestants also worked as a team and build a 20-foot wide replica of the USS Constitution. USS Constitution is the world’s oldest warship and it was dry docked this Summer for repairs. USS Constitution will be leaving the dry dock on July 23rd and this sculpture paid a homage to USS Constitution.

My favorite sculpture was ‘Save the Elephants’ and it fittingly won the ‘People’s Choice award.’ The sculpture was so perfect that even the wrinkles on the elephants’ skin were visible. The artist was Paul Hoggard from UK/Bulgaria. Pavel Mylnikov won first prize for ‘Soul Evolution’, a dramatic sculpture of a mythical figure.

I felt both happy and sad when I looked at this sculptures. I was happy because looking at these sand sculptures was a one-of-a-kind experience. I was also sad because these artists created these sculptures with so much effort and devotion, and they will get eroded with time. The sand will soon become part of the shapeless and malleable beach.

There were also food trucks at the festival, a Ferris wheel, kiddie coaster and other activities for the kids. There was also live music and fireworks. The fireworks show lasted for about 20 minutes and I enjoyed every minute of that experience.

Enjoy the pics and videos of the sights on the beach.

These are the pics and videos I took when I went to Revere Beach on a summer afternoon early this July. There were fewer people on that day and many more sea gulls.