The International Sand Sculpture Festival – Fiesa 2004 – continues to pull in the crowds. Despite the fact that the number of tourists visiting the Algarve is down on last year, the festival has seen a steady increase in ticket sales.
By the first week of August, Fiesa 2004 had already welcomed over double the amount of visitors that attended the whole of Fiesa 2003.
The sand sculpture festival is dedicated to popular tales and legends of the world and the sculptures cover an area of 15,000 square metres. Despite the fact that the exhibition has been open to the public since May 22, the sand works still preserve their original beauty and detail. In all 25,000 tons of sand were transformed into sculptures representing popular folk tales and these have resisted the wind and the recent downpour of rain to seduce and enchant visitors.
Fiesa 2004 is located on the site of the previous International Festival of Sand Sculpture, in Pêra. It is open daily from 10am to midnight and hosts other cultural activities, which are integrated within the city of sand. There are daily sand sculpture workshops for children and adults, and oriental dance workshops every Thursday at 7pm, on the central stage of the park.
Due to popular demand, ProSandArt, the organisation behind Fiesa 2004, is considering extending the festival beyond September 22 – the advertised closing date. Weather permitting, Fiesa 2004 will remain open at weekends until the rain washes away the summer and the sand sculptures.
