A beach together with a bucket and spade will normally lead to some sort of sand castle eventually, but have you ever seen a professional sand sculptor in action? They are able to create things you would not have thought possible. We've seen them in places like the beaches of Cannes and Mallorca, but now Antalya in Turkey has its own Sand Sculpture festival which has proved to be very popular.

The season long Sandland festival had its home on one of Antalya's most popular spots at the Lara Beach Park Complex. The exhibition was sponsored by the local culture and tourism ministry who provided the funding to bring in 40 sculptors from around the world and 5000 tons of sand to make more than 100 sculptures. Building sand sculptures in somewhere hot like Turkey and in such a way that they will last all summer long requires special measures. Only certain types of sand will work and they need constant attention.

The theme of this year's Sandland was mythology and the displays depict various characters and themes from the countries taking part. The exhibitions were brought to life by sound systems and special lighting which came in to its own at night.

The festival has been open for the past five months allowing thousands of people to come and marvel at the exhibits. Sandland closed on 20th October, but the organisers expect to be back again next year with a new theme for Sandland 2010 which will start in the middle of May.