One of the longest, cleanest beaches I have ever seen is at Scheveningen, in the Netherlands. As far as you can see, the sand stretches in both directions. Where there is sand, children like to build sandcastles.
Their castles, though, rarely last a day, before they are knocked down by the tide.
At Scheveningen, the people see no reason not to build sandcastles just because they are grown up. But, they call them ‘sculptures’
The Scheveningen International Sand Sculpture Festival is held in the Spring and early Summer every year. Usually, the Festival starts in late April, and the judging of the sculptures takes place in early June, when they are shown off at their best.
But, the sculptures are almost complete by early May, and can be inspected at any time. The lights and sound effects, however, are only added just before the judging. The secret of their long life is that they are built above the high water mark, and they do not use sand from the beach. Beach sand is no good for this purpose, as the grains are too rounded. Instead, they bring sand from the river, which is sharper, and the grains cling together better. They mix it with water … nothing else is allowed … and really compress it.
Then, they carve it with a variety of instruments … knives, trowels, spades or household implements. All are allowed.
There is a different theme for the sculptures every year. In 2006, the theme was the composer Mozart, for it was the 250th anniversary of his birth. In 2005, to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of Queen Beatrix, who had ruled the Netherlands for 25 years, the theme was ‘Queens of the Netherlands’. The winning entry showed the images of the last four reigning Queens … the Netherlands have not had a King for many years … posed like the Presidents on the Mount Rushmore Memorial.
(Since this article was written, Queen Beatrix has abdicated, and her son, King Willem-Alexander has taken the throne)
Unfortunately, though, I could not be there for the judging this time, where, in addition to being seen in all its glory, each sculpture had to play a piece of Mozart’s music.