8 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

International Sand Sculpture Festival Opens with the Theme “The Lost City of Atlantis”

The 16th edition of the International Sand Sculpture Festival (SANDLAND) has begun in Turkey’s Mediterranean resort city of Antalya. Every year, the festival attracts tourists with mesmerizing sand sculptures. This year’s theme is “The Lost City of Atlantis,” and it will begin in the middle of May.

The International Sand Sculpture Festival in Antalya is one of the world’s most prestigious sand sculpture activities. Every year, hundreds of huge, sparkling sand sculptures prepared around various themes, such as “World Wonders and Mythology” and “Sea Legends,” are displayed at Lara Beach, drawing many local and international tourists.

Sand sculpting is a form of ephemeral (temporary) art that has gradually grown in popularity around the world in recent years. Sand sculpting practices, which fall under the umbrella of alternative arts, use only sand and water. Sand sculptors work alone or in groups of two to three individuals, taking into account the size of the sculpture to be made.

As a result, impressive works of the art weighing hundreds of tons and measuring several meters in height and length are made using only water and sand. The art of sand sculpture adopts the philosophy that nothing is permanent and everything will disappear one day. These wonderful works are demolished after a short period of the exhibition.

sand sculptor
This year’s theme is “The Lost City of Atlantis,” and it will begin in the middle of May.

Festival director Cem Karaca told Anadolu Agency (AA) that their festival is one of the largest sand sculpture events in the world with the high number of sculptures it hosts and the amount of sand used in these works. Noting the festival is open throughout the year, Karaca continued: “The pandemic has affected social life, especially culture and arts events. While many sand festivals were canceled around the world, we will continue our event under strict COVID-19 measures.”

sand sculptor festival

The festival director also provided information about the 16th edition of the festival: “While preserving some of our sculptures, especially an imitation of the Cheops Pyramid, which we have applied to be included in the Guinness World Records, we will also present our new sculptures with the theme of Atlantis to our visitors. With our new sculptures, we will take our visitors on a journey through the mysterious world of the city of Atlantis. We hope that the imaginative, fantastic sculptures will attract visitors of all ages. Our sculptors started their work in the area as of April 19. We will also do repair work on our sculptures that we have not destroyed in our area. As every year, we want to create a different experience at night with lighting and music suitable for the atmosphere.”

Bulgarian sand sculptor professor Ani Zlateva also stated that she has participated in many sand sculpture events around the world and that many activities have been held in this field in recent years. Explaining that sand provides the opportunity to make large sculptures in a short time, Zlateva emphasized that their sculptures will be destroyed after a while. Noting that this situation does not upset her as an artist, “The understanding of sand sculpture is based on the fact that everything will disappear one day. I am immortalizing my work in the digital environment by photographing it with my phone.”

Related Articles

An Anthropologist’s life work uncovers the first ancient DNA from the Swahili Civilization

2 April 2023

2 April 2023

Chapurukha Kusimba, an anthropologist at the University of South Florida, has uncovered the first ancient DNA from the Swahili Civilization,...

Researcher found the head of the statue of Bacchus, inside a water channel near the ancient city of Cyrene in Libya

31 December 2023

31 December 2023

Libyan Archeology researcher, Issam Menfi found the head of the statue of Bacchus, which dates back to the Greek era,...

An opulent 2,000-year-old ‘city hall’ has been discovered near the Western Wall in Israel

8 July 2021

8 July 2021

An important 2,000-year-old public building has been unearthed near the wailing wall in Israel. Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority...

New AI Tool ‘Fragmentarium’ Brings Ancient Babylonian Texts Together

6 February 2023

6 February 2023

An artificial intelligence (AI) bot was developed by linguists at the Institute for Assyriology at Ludwig Maximilian University in Germany...

Archaeologists discovered an enigmatic complex of rooms, interiors of which covered with figural scenes unique to Christian art

7 April 2023

7 April 2023

Archaeologists of the Polish Center of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw discovered an enigmatic complex of rooms made...

The ruins of a thousand-year-old Buddhist Temple will be opened to the public in Kyrgyzstan

13 September 2022

13 September 2022

The unearthed remains of an ancient Buddhist temple in Kyrgyzstan will open to the public in mid-September as part of...

An unknown human group is revealed in a 7,200-year-old skeleton discovered in Indonesia

27 August 2021

27 August 2021

According to a study released this week, archaeologists uncovered the bones of a 7,200-year-old skeleton from a female hunter-gatherer in...

The 11-meter giant statue of the island of Naxos “Dionysus of Apollonas”

22 March 2023

22 March 2023

One of the two ancient marble quarries, thought to have begun the sculpture, the greatest art of antiquity, is located...

Army Museum Worker Discovers Early Medieval Sword While Swimming in a Polish River

19 December 2024

19 December 2024

The collection of the Army Museum in Białystok, Poland has been enriched after renovation with a unique relic of great...

Using 3D scanners, archaeologists have identified the person who carved Jelling Stone Runes

29 September 2023

29 September 2023

Researchers at the National Museum of Denmark using 3D scans have identified who carved the Jelling Stone Runes, located in...

Archaeologists unearthed the ruins of an imposing stoa from the Greco-Roman era in Sicily

1 April 2024

1 April 2024

Archaeologists have unearthed the ruins of an imposing stoa from the Greco-Roman period in the small village of Tripi in...

A pendant with a figure of St. Nicholas found in the Ancient Church Hidden in Turkish Lake

7 October 2022

7 October 2022

Underwater archaeological excavations and research, which were started 8 years ago in the basilica located 20 meters off the lake...

Millennia-Old İron Production Facilities Found in Iran

2 May 2021

2 May 2021

Archaeologists have uncovered many millennia-old iron manufacturing sites in a historical village in southcentral Iran. A local tourism official declared...

Remarkably Preserved Bronze Age Urns, Thousands of Years Old, Unearthed in Germany

13 May 2025

13 May 2025

What appeared to be an ordinary stretch of County Road 17 between the towns of Moisburg and Immenbeck has turned...

An inscription written in both runic and Latin script on a church wall in Denmark turned out to be still a legally significant promissory note

31 May 2023

31 May 2023

An inscription in both runic and Latin script on a church wall in Denmark turned out to be legally valid...