Veluws Sand sculpture festival

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Veluwse Sand Sculpture Festival 2015

A fest of recognition!

The high-profile special event of the Sand Sculpture Festival takes place for the 7th time from 17 April to 31 October 2015 on the edge of the garden exhibition 'De Beeldentuin' in the Dutch village Garderen in the Veluwe. The site of the Sand Sculpture Festival is located in a large wooded area and the largest lowland nature area in Europe encompassing about 1000 square kilometers in the Veluwe, a forest region in which you can be enchanted by the wonders of nature.

This year's theme „Grandma´s time“ is a festival of recognition. Several sports events and developments in the field of technology will be displayed in the sand. In addition, the Dutch royal family is the focus and that in the period in which Queen Wilhelmina, Juliana and Beatrix ruled. In the spotlight are also to topics of liberation, Ot & Sien and the 125th anniversary of the death of Vincent van Gogh. In summary: get enchanted by the extraordinary Netherlands from grandma's time represented by the best sand artists.

Grandma´s time

The unique character of the population in the countryside, the village pumps where water was fetched from, the small grocery stores, churches that were attended by the masses on Sundays, the period of entrepreneurship and, after the war, the reconstruction period. Evenings were spent together at the table, unveiling peanuts and listening to the radio or television, if you had them at the time. That time is a thing of the past, but with the theme "Grandma's time" the Veluwe Sand Culture Festival recalls memories and allows experiencing them from new. Impressive Sand Sculptures capture the daily life of that time (such as forgotten professions like lamplighter, waste farmer, village speaker or phone operator) so that the memory of a nostalgic time is not lost.

Tribute to Vincent van Gogh

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the death of Vincent van Gogh. The famous painter inspired many artists after his death again and again, including the sand artists (`Carvers`) of the Veluwe Sand Sculpture Festival. As a keepsake and reminder of van Gogh the sand artists have created his famous painting 'The Kartoffelesser` in large format and in 3D.

In addition, 10 of his famous works can be admired in 2D. In this way, the Sand Sculpture Festival, just like many others this year, recalls the 125th anniversary of his death with a fantastic presentation of sand sculptures.

The Veluwe Sand Sculpture Festival has a covered exhibition space with about 50 paintings from the studio Jacob Tuijn (no sand sculptures) from the time of Ot & Sien and the Dutch royal family, that can all be admired. All works are on view for the duration of the Sand Sculpture Festival. In the same area several sand sculptures of former queens are presented. And ... because the Night watch by Rembrandt in real size (a whopping 4:47 mx 3.63 m) was a great success in the past year, this painting is on display again this year. It took painter Jacob Tuijn from Emmen (NL) five years to paint the Night watch, the masterpiece by Rembrandt van Rijn, according to the last detail.

Solving riddles …

In a covered exhibition space 40 Dutch children's books such as Jip and Janneke, Pietje Bell, Swiebertje of Pinkeltje and Woezel and Pip are created in sand. Whoever can guess the titles of these books can win great prizes.

Looking at the sand sculptures form a bird´s eye view

The Veluwe Sand Sculpture Festival with all the creatures in the inner and outer area can be admired from a monorail overhead railway with a bird's-eye view. A special highlight for young and old!

This way you discover even more details of this artistic achievemen. Boredom is frowned upon, because on one of the terraces you can enjoy a snack and drink, shop in cozy little shops, gather ideas for the garden outdoors in the exhibition garden 'De Beeldentuin` (3000 square meters) and look at the most beautiful garden decorations and sculptures.