A couple of kilometres up Lake Constance from here lies Rorschach, a small town with a harbour and a lovely lakeside park. They’ve had an international sandsculpture festival there ever since 1999, the year of the big solar eclipse, when this sculpture was the winner. It’s now immortalised in stone in the lake park. This year, the theme was “Small world, tiny dreams” and I decided to take before, during and after photos – so here we go:

Before. Not much to see:

• 

• 

During. Taking shape:

After. I was worried when I went to take these – the weather had held all week, but the evening after the judging, the heavens opened and we had several hours of torrential rain accompanied by high winds. Next day, most of the sculptures were marked, but all except one was still standing:

And the winners. The public vote went to this one, “The Flat Earth Theory” by Marielle Heessels (NL) and Leonardo Ugolini (I):

And the judges’ vote went to this one, “Fragile Link” by Maija and Karls Ile from Lettland. I’d have voted for this one too – I think it’s one of the most spectacular sculptures I’ve seen there over the years. Yes, that is a split and a hole right through the figure. Unbelievable that it withstood the weather the previous night.

You can see more (and better) photos in the local paper HERE. (On a desktop pc, click through with the fine arrow on the right to see them all.)

Next week, we’re having writer Maggie James on the blog, talking about the location of her latest book She’ll Never Tell – stand by for more photos!