The 2019 Texas SandFest has officially come to a close in Port Aransas, but not without bringing thousands of visitors to gaze at the extraordinary sand sculptures situated along the coast. 20 sculptors and sand artists from around the world showed off their incredible skills for the competition, creating sea turtles, elephants, and of course, detailed sand castles.

Since 1997, the non-profit event soon became into a 3-day family friendly festival. Today the event is scheduled for when there’s the least amount of tourists in the area in order to bring in ten of thousands of visitors. As well as being able to check out the sand sculptures, visitors have the opportunity to enjoy food, concerts and other festivities.

Of these 20 competitors this year, one sculpture in particular stood out the most. Canadian sculptor Damon Langlois was awarded first place for his sculpture of the 16th president of the United States. The sculpture portrays what’s seems to be a facepalming Lincoln, called “Liberty Crumbling”. And it wasn’t long before questions began to be raised online with people speculating if the idea behind the artwork is related to the current political situation in the United States.

Top sculptures from SandFest 2019

According to Texas SandFest’s Master Sculptor Coordinator, Suzanne Altamare, the sand sculptures are judged on originality, degree of difficulty, proportions, cleanliness and the WOW factor. Those who attend the festival also have the opportunity to vote for their favourites as well, with the sculpture receiving the most votes being given the People’s Choice Award. Take a look at a few of the top sculptures below.

Source: https://www.boredpanda.com/texas-sandfest-competition-winners-2019/?_t=1&_f=featured