Should you be visiting the Dutch seaside resort of Scheveningen over the next few months, you'll be able to admire an open-air exhibition of huge sand sculptures. The 20th Sand Sculpture Festival opened on Thursday.

More than 300 tons of sand was needed for the sculptures and had to be carted all the way to the seaside. Why? Because the sand on Scheveningen beach doesn’t stick together very well. So river sand had to be used - it's made up of squarer grains and therefore sticks together better.

World Wildlife Fund
This year’s theme is Passing on the Earth, and the festival is in aid of the World Wildlife Fund's Doubling Nature campaign. This aims to increase the natural habitat of endangered animal species, so their populations can grow. The sculptures feature animals such as polar bears, black rhinos, orangutans, tigers and elephants.

Seven artists took nine days to complete their sculptures. The aim of previous festivals was to make the artworks as big as possible but, this year, the artists focused on detail.

The sand sculptures will be on display (for free) on the Boulevard in Scheveningen until 27 July.

(hs/mw)