Sand Sculpture Festival Zandvoort

The EC Sand Sculpting has been inextricably linked to Zandvoort for several years now. What started in 2011 with an NK on Zandvoort soil, expanded in the following year to become a European Championship. A phenomenon that has since been organised annually in Zandvoort.

The theme for 2021 is “Landscape through the eye of the Master” and is linked to a national campaign that is being conducted internationally under the title “Ode to the Dutch Landscape”. From 3 to 9 May 2021, 6 artists from various European countries will be working hard on new sand artworks at various locations! In a week they 'carve' a mountain of sand of 4x4x4 meters into a work of art with fantastic details. The sand artists have every freedom to design the theme “Landscape through the eye of the Master” as they see fit. They can, for example, take a famous painting by a 17th-century master as a starting point, but also give their own interpretation of a future Dutch landscape. The sculptures will remain until the end of August 2021.

The participating carvers of 2021 are:

Fergus Mulvany - Ireland

Fate works in funny ways. Fergus Mulvany never thought about sand sculpting while studying fine art in Dublin. Even as a child, he was never drawn to playing in the sand at the beach. But Fergus’ name was randomly drawn from those of hundreds of students to participate in a sand festival held in Holland in 1993. And since that fateful event, he has developed a passion for the gritty stuff, competing all over the world. Of course he works in other media as well. During winter, Fergus focuses on snow and ice sculptures and works with more traditional materials such as steel, wood, cement and glass. Regardless of the material, Fergus’s creative philosophy remains the same, “I’m guided by an organic process rather than a strict idea,” he said.

Niall Magee - Ireland

Niall was born in 1972 and is originally from Ireland. Nowadays he lives with his wife Anique (also a sand sculpting artist) and his 2 children in Groningen. Niall studied art at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. Since 1996 he concentrated his work fully on sand sculpting. He participated in many sand sculpting projects on all continents and received many titles.

Maxim Gazendam - The Netherlands

Maxim was born in 1981 in Monster, The Netherlands and started sand sculpting in 1998 by coincidence taking part in a workshop. A few months later he participated in the International Sand sculpting Competition in Scheveningen and the love for sand became bigger and bigger. After finishing his study of architecture in 2005 he almost works full time with sand. Participating in various competitions and festivals worldwide and teaching other people how to sculpt at the Sand Academy in The Netherlands. Maxim has received the titles of Dutch Champion and European Champion in sand sculpting in 2015.

Martijn Rijerse - The Netherlands

Before becoming a sand sculptor in 2000, Martijn studied to become an architect. His passion for design propels him to push the limits of his craft and constantly explore new structures. Next to sand, Martijn also uses other media such as ice, snow, and foam. Martijn makes art for the soul. His work is both emotional and conceptual. Over the years, he has developed a style that frequently combines figurative and abstract designs. He hopes to invoke a particular emotion with each and every sculpture he creates. For this reason, Martjin’s work has been featured in a number of countries around the world, including Spain, England, Latvia, Thailand, Australia, USA, Canada and many more. He became World Champion Sand Sculpting in 2010 during a festival in Tottori, Japan.

Hanneke Supply - Belgium

Born a creative mind, for as long as she can remember Hanneke has been on the lookout for creative projects to be realised. Growing up in the beautiful old city of Brugge has nurtured her young romantic soul in ways that still surprises her today! She grew up in a house that looked like a castle and therefore believed that she was a princess for a long time… Even now that the reality of life has made it’s way into her dreamy thoughts, she is still convinced the power of believing in something -even when it’s not real- is bigger then our adult mind can ever grasp. She believes the fact that travelling the world and making sand- snow- and Ice- sculpture during the past 15 years is living proof that everything is possible, as long as you believe in it.

Jeroen Advocaat - The Netherlands

Jeroen Advocaat, who lives in the Frisian Gorredijk, was born in Leeuwarden in 1977. While drawing and painting on two and three dimensional objects, he ended up at the Minerva art academy in Groningen, where he received his illustration diploma in 1999. Fascinated by the addition of movement and sound to images, he worked intensively for two years with 3D software, in which he also taught students at the Friesland college. Then he decided to take a look at China while illustrating for the music label Sending Orbs and making sculptures in sand by playing with light and shadow. Since 2014, Jeroen has also been making sculptures in ice, which this year was shown in the TV program IJsmeesters: a breeze. But regardless of the medium, his goal is to convey the desired message in a clear and understandable way, such as an illustration, a visual explanation of a story.

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