Evil and good-natured pirates at the sand sculpture festival

The Sand Sculpture Festival has been annually held in Belgium since 1997. Sculptors from the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands and Belgium took part in the festival in 2009. Crowds of people come to the beach side town of Blankenberge to admire sand sculptures of pirates, who are the main heroes of the current festival.

Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Davy Jones, the captain of the Flying Dutchman from Pirates of the Caribbean.

The Dead Man's Chest.

Skull and crossbones - a pirate symbol of agonizing death.

The Sea god Triton.

Mermaids and dolphins - mythic inhabitants of the ocean depths.

Evil pirates row a boat.

A cartoon cheerful pirate.

Evil and good-natured pirates at the sand sculpture festival

Despite the "pirate" theme of the festival, the organizers decided to pay tribute to the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson.