Eight Wonders of the Sand World
WESTON-SUPER-MARE is hosting the annual Sand Sculpture Festival on its famous beach.
The giant sand sculptures are representing place across the globe, from Europe to East Asia and Africa to Australia.
Sculptures will take up to ten days to complete, with the hard work of two people working up to ten hours a day.
Over 360 tonnes of sand have been used to create the masterpieces inspired by the seven continents.
These include a herd of African elephants, a sleeping lion and explorer Scott of the Antarctic with iceberg in tow.
Other sculptors have been inspired by famous architects: versions of Barcelona’s cathedral, Venice’s Rialto Bridge, the Empire State Building and Big Ben all feature in the Sand Sculpture Festival.
Previous themes include King Kong in 2006 and Fairytales in 2007.
One of last year’s entrants, Nicola Wood from Somerset, went on to win the World Championships in Canada with her sculpture of Cinderella’s Castle.
The artists have until Saturday to complete their creations when the festival begins and all sculptures will be on show until August 31.