Fiesa 2007 -I Wonder What Makes A Wonder?
I thought I'd make it along to the opening day of Fiesa 2007, but life got in the way (again) - and it must have been the third or fourth day after its inauguration that I managed the trip. Strangely, for the first time in four years of attending the sand sculptures exhibition near Pera, my impressions this year were somewhat 'mixed'. Perhaps it was the theme, perhaps I'm becoming a bit blasé after this many years of viewing magnificent sand sculptures... ... but I felt a little disappointed. Not that there aren't some fantastic examples of the sand sculptor's art to see: far from it. Some of the sculptures will still 'knock your socks off'. Before I continue with what might sound like a negative report, I should state that I met some people who had never attended Fiesa before, nor had they seen sand sculptures of such ambition (there are always a few 'amateur' versions on an Algarve beach during the tourist season). And the thing was, all of the 'newbies' to Fiesa thought the displays were fantastic, marvellous, stupendous... you name it, they used an enthusiastic adjective.
So, perhaps I was, after all, suffering from some 'been there, seen that' feelings, despite my eager anticipation of the visit. The theme of Fiesa 2007 iss 'Wonders of the World' (Maravilhas do Mundo). So, there were principally the well-known 7 Wonders of the (Ancient) World. The problem is, that only gives seven exhibits, which still leaves a lot of sand left over, from the more-than 30,000 tonnes that are used for each year's Fiesa. As usual, the event is well advertised, and helpfully signposted from local main roads. You can see the flags flying while you're still a fair distance away. There's plenty of free parking on the sandy lot on the other side of the road from the exhibition space. Another disappointment was the belt-tightening that has resulted in charging for some memento items that in previous years were free (like postcards and posters showing some of the exhibits). True, the entrance fee has been held at 7 euros from last year (but it was 4 euros in 2004). And this year, you don't even get a printed ticket, just a stub from the cash till.
Quite how you gain free readmission during the day (which was possible previously by adding your passport number to the ticket as you left, so you could prove your identity when requesting re-entry) is a mystery this year. Perhaps they've withdrawn the free readmission offer - I'll have to check. Another (perhaps minor) gripe was that not all of the exhibits were complete. Indeed, some of them were still far from being constructed. Since this this year's Fiesa opened more than one week later than usual, I assume that there had been hitches with the preparations. But, early visitors might well feel short-changed, since they won't see everything that will be on offer once it's all finished. (Just to offer an alternative take on that, husband Nev didn't mind, since he found it interesting to watch the sand artists working on the full-size sculptures whereas, normally, they just mess about with smaller demonstration pieces, to show how it's done... Trust a man to argue!)
Nev, as close as he'll ever get to Manhattan and Hollywood Moreover, some exhibits had explanatory information only in Portuguese. That smacks more of disorganisation, and this time my chauffeur didn't have a different opinion - except that he likes the challenge of trying his hand at translation. Then, none of the usual side stalls and attractions were present. Normally, there are stalls offering a variety of useful and not-so-useful stuff to visitors. There was no bungee-trampolining area, as last year, to divert childish energies. Sadly, I have to report that the toilet facilities have not improved from previous years. The portaloos are as basic as ever, and the number (one Ladies, one Gents and one Disabled) is woefully inadequate for the amount of visitors the site can hold when busy. And if there are a few coachloads of children seeing the sights, expect huge queues outside the toilets and a fairly icky experience when you do make it inside the facility. Report card for that subject should read: 'must try harder in future'.
As usual, the panorama over the site was breathtaking... Previously, there have been speakers hidden among the sculptures, so that the music accompanied you wherever you walked. I presume they may get around to installing those, too, at some later date. On the subject of music, there is normally a daily 'theme', advertised so that you can visit on a day when your choice of music will be playing. Again, no sign of that this year. Food and drink were available, however, and there are shaded areas in which to escape the sun before sallying forth to see more sculptures. So - to the exhibits and what's on offer at Fiesa 2007 - Prosandart's claimed world-record-breaking event? Fiesa 2007The pyramids of Egypt, the Hanging Gardens, the Collossus of Rhodes, the Olympian statue of Zeus, Artemis's Temple at Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Lighthouse at Alexandria... As I mentioned a short time ago on my Algarve Blog page, Nev was looking forward to seeing the Hanging Gardens of Babylon depicted in sand. Unfortunately, that was probably one of the more disappointing sculptures, perhaps because of the difficulties of rendering such a wonder to scale in so tricky a medium as sand?
Hanging around at Babylon's Gardens One piece that hadn't been destroyed from last year's Fiesa was the huge Egyptian pyramids depiction, probably because they had already decided on this year's theme and knew that it would fit. Another 'old friend' was a depiction of the Last Supper of Christ, but this was different from last year's exhibit, and was part of a celebration of the genius of da Vinci that included a sand-based version of the Mona Lisa (quite easy to differentiate from the original, as you might guess). Exactly how many of these are represented I can't tell you, since I don't know how to recognize them, and all exhibits weren't identified. For certain, the pyramids, the hanging gardens, the colossus are all there. The others? Search me. What can you see apart from the ancient Wonders of the World?
Gaudi's Barcelona cathedral (foreground) Well, there are, of course, modern wonders to be considered, although I'm sure opinions might differ as to what those might be. (Internet yes, cellular phones no...?) Even if you add seven modern wonders, that would still only offer fourteen exhibits, so what did they come up with? Wonders of Portugal, that's what. Now, I live in Portugal, have chosen to do so, and won't hear a word against the country (especially the Algarve region), but it's stretching things just a mite to apply the word 'Wonder' to many of the things that were chosen as subjects for exhibits. Typical and representative of Portugal yes. Wonders? I doubt it. Masai warriors, impressive, but Wonders of the World?... So, will I go again? Undoubtedly... I'm bound to have some summer visitors who've never seen such impressive sand sculptures (few have). So, I'll be driving them along to Pera and enjoying their gasps of wonder when they first encounter the sights there.
Should you be going along if you're in Algarve? Definitely; if you've never been to Fiesa before, you'll be wowed, guaranteed. Just in case you've forgotten (or never knew in the first place) the 'Fiesa' bit stands for "Festival Internacional de Escultura em Areia", which translates as International Festival of Sand Sculptures. Opening times are from 10am to midnight every day between June 4 and October 4, so you can check it out whenever your Algarve vacation might fall.
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