Ed Jarrett built the world’s tallest sand castle this year in Connecticut, but this isn't his first time. In 2003, he first erected the world’s tallest sand castle, then broke his own record in 2007. This summer, he's back with a 37-foot, 10-inch monstrosity. About 1,500 volunteers used 1.6 million pounds of sand to build the palace. They began work April 1 and finished May 20. There was one major hitch: The castle was supposed to be even bigger, but a bluebird grazed the top, says Jarrett's Castle spokeswoman Laura Ward. Worse, bad weather conditions were predicted and the team rushed to get the sand castle certified. Jarrett lived on a trailer on site toward the end, carving away for about 15 hours a day.
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The sand sculpture Beetlemania, carved by Brad Goll of the U.S. and Karen Fralich from Canada, is displayed at the Creepy Crawlies Sandsculpting Exhibition on the Frankston waterfront on December 26, 2010, in Melbourne, Australia. Sand-sculpture artists from around the world teamed up with their Australian counterparts to create the insect-themed exhibition that was on show until April.
One of this year's most impressive sand castles, The Egyptian Bikers, lies in a park in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. Nine professional and amateur artists took part in a contest to build sand sculptures under the general theme of "The Carnival" in early July and created works interpreting mythological plots, fairytales, and cartoons.
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A sand sculpture representing a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean during the Sand Sculptures Festival in Blankenberge, Belgium, on June 28, 2011. This year, the theme for the world's biggest sand-sculpture festival was The Magical Moments Festival of Disneyland Paris.
A Ukrainian sculptor rakes the sand around his sculpture of a hamburger filled with pigs in Kiev. A sand-sculpture festival opened in the Ukrainian capital with more than 20 sculptors participating in the event.
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Picture of a sand sculpture made at Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach on April 9, 2010.
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A tourist takes photos of a sand sculpture in the pattern of characters of the film Harry Potter during the 2011 Changsha International Sand Sculpture Art Festival held in China. The festival kicked off July 9, displaying some 60 works by nearly a dozen sand-sculpture artists.
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Sand sculptor Seri Ramirez of Spain works on his sculptures showing Beethoven, Marlene Dietrich, and Elvis during the Sand Sculpture Festival "Sand World" near Luebeck, Germany, in 2007. About 75 international artists used some 9,000 tons of special sand at the Baltic Sea beach of Travemunde to create sculptures along the theme of "time travel through the history of mankind."
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A sand sculpture, Flea Circus, carved by Susanne Ruseler from the Netherlands is seen at the Creepy Crawlies Sandsculpting Exhibition on the Frankston waterfront on December 26, 2010, in Melbourne, Australia.
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Sand Sculpture of an ancient warrior at the Zhongwei International Sand Sculpture Competition.
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A sand sculpture depicting Albert Einstein during the Sand Sculpture Festival "Sand World" in near Luebeck, Germany, on July 5, 2007.
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A sculptor works at a sand park exhibition in Pera, in southern Portugal, in 2008. More than 60 sculptors created a park with sand sculptures of Hollywood films and characters.
Hugo Correia / Reuters / Landov
