We're gonna need a bigger bucket and spade! Incredible pictures of the world's most intricate sandcastles




These spectacular castles have been built as part of the world's biggest sand sculpture festival.

Around 40 'sand artists' from around the world attended the Sand Sculpture Festival on the beach of Blankenberge in Belgium. Over 10,000 tonnes of sand was used to create the amazing 'sand village' as part of the festival's 20th anniversary.

The festival, which runs until the end of the month, has a fairytale theme and includes magestic castles and enchanting palaces as well as a host of comic book favourites.

A spokesman said: 'This year the Sand Sculpture Festival in Blankenberge will bring to life fairytales by the Brothers Grimm and Walt Disney, as well as the magical stories of Charles Dickens and J.K. Rowling and so many other famous tales from the world of myths and legends.

'Not only will all the best-known and best-loved fairy tales be on show, but also great legends and fables from the four corners of the earth, which will allow you to relive that magical days of yesteryear."

Visitors can take walk-through tours of the sand village where other comic book favourites such as Tintin and the Smurfs are also on display.

Fairytale palaces: Two of the incredible castles created for the annual 'Zandsculpturen' festival. 40 sand artists from across the globe have gathered on the Belgian coast to create a spectacular sand village



Sand smurf: Belgian cartoon favourites the smurfs are recreated in amazing detail for one of the exhibits. An incredible 10,000 tons of sand were needed for this project, which is the biggest festival of that kind in the world

Detail: Comic book hero Tintin and his faithful companions Captain Haddock and Snowy the dog draw the crowds at the festival in Blankenberge, Belgium