Cool sand sculptures

Jamie Wardley, of Bradford, England, touches up a sand sculpture Thursday at the World Sand Sculpture Festival at the marina in Brighton. He is one of 60 international artists gathered on the beach to create sculptures with an ancient Roman theme.

Around 60 artists will congregate in Brighton and make it home to the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Trajan's Column and many other historical images of ancient Rome, as they carve lifelike replicas of ancient monuments out of sand in the biggest and most impressive sand sculpture event in the UK. Highlights also include sand replicas of Roman emperors Augustus and Julius Caesar, as well as Roman gladiators.

With nearly 10,000 tons of special sand shipped straight from Holland, stretching across 40,000 sq ft of land at Black Rock near Brighton Marina, professional sculptors will spend two weeks bringing Rome to Brighton. Sculptors from Russia, Holland, USA, Germany and France will build the Roman monuments, which are made purely from sand and water and can withstand buffeting Force 7 winds. And if you come during the first four days of the festival you'll catch the artists in action, as they put their creative sand sculpting skills to the test.

See more cool pictures here