VietNamNet Bridge – The talent and skilled hands of foreign sculptors have turned a two-hectare empty lot into a wonderful sand sculpture park in Phan Thiet city’s Phu Hai Ward in the south central coastal province of Binh Thuan.

A sculptor puts final touches on his work.

The park is expected to become one of the landmarks in Binh Thuan Province, one that tourists, especially children, should not miss when visiting the region best known for beautiful beaches and sand dunes.

Tourists will be brought back to their childhoods as they are told famous fairy tales at the Forgotten Land sand sculpture park, featuring 22 lively and interesting sculptures based on fairy tales of Viet Nam and the world.

Fourteen sculptors from Japan, Singapore, the US and other countries came to the province to use the local red sand and water to create sculptures with different shapes including a castle, huge dragon, rooster (which is zodiac symbol for this lunar year) and many known characters, such as Cinderella and Aurora from the story of Sleeping Beauty.

Moreover, sculptors of ancient architectural works, such as Thien Mu pagoda in the central city of Hue, Po Nagar Cham tower in the south central province of Khanh Hoa’s Nha Trang, are featured.

Each of 22 sculptures average 10 metres in length, five metres in width and 3.5 metres in height.

A sculpture of Cinderella at the Forgotten Land sand sculpture park in Phan Thiet City.

Red sand for the sculptors is taken from the province’s large dunes which cover thousands of hectares, reach heights of forty to fifty metres and are created by frequent sand-storms blowing inland from the coast.

Strong winds will not blow sand from sculptures thanks to techniques of the sculptors.

Sculptor Marielle Heessels from Holland said that this was the first time she had come to Viet Nam.

The people and nature of Viet Nam inspired her for sculpturing, Heessels said, adding that she wanted to tell many fairy tales via sculptures.

She said she hoped that the sculptures would be liked by local and foreign tourists.

Sculptor Leonardo Ugolinin from Belgium said he came to Viet Nam for the second time to sculpt sand. He was very happy to perform the art in beautiful Phan Thiet City.

The sand in Phan Thiet is stickier than sand in other places and makes it easy to sculpt, he said.

Sculptures will last about one year under normal weather conditions.

Nguyen Duc Hoa, vice chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said that the park was expected to help the province attract more foreign and local tourists.

A minutely detailed sand sculpture in Phan Thiet City.

"Sand sculpture is a popular art in the world, and colourful sand is an advantage of the province for sand sculpture," Hoa said.

Like Australia and Japan, more and more festivals of sand sculpture would be held in the province, he added.

The Forgotten Land sand sculpture park has been posted on Facebook by many people including local residents in the province to invite their friends to go with them to the park.

Nguyen Nhat Cuong, from the province’s Bac Binh District, brought his whole family to visit the park and said that the sculptures were “very impressive”.

Hoang Nhu Hue, also in Binh Thuan, said that the sculptures were very beautiful. “Through the talent of sculptors, they seem to have soul.”

“I like the huge dragon at the entrance,” Hue said.

Le Anh Tuan, CEO of Vietsandart Company, said that since the park opened on January 29, around 1,000 tourists visited it every day. The entrance fee for adults is VND100,000 and VND70,000 for kids.

The company continues to make new statues. During the upcoming April 30 and May 1 holiday, a contest for sand sculptures by female sculptors will be organised.

The park plans to change the theme of its sculptures later this year.

VNS

Gia Loc & Nguyen Thanh