Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Remy and Paul, who sculpt stories from sand, draw inspiration from life in Bulgaria

Photo: Remy and Paul Hoggard

They met 20 years ago in a Belgian sand sculpture park. He was sculpting a 19-meter deity and she was creating a goddess from sand. They quickly found out they are soulmates and have been inseparable ever since. Remy and Paul Hoggard are among the hundreds of artists on the planet who are professionally engaged in sand sculpture. They receive invitations from all over the planet and to this date the art team has toured over 30 countries.


He is English and she is Dutch, but they choose to live in Bulgaria. They have a house and some land here. When they are not creating miracles out of sand, they take care of their farm in the village of Mihailovo near Stara Zagora.

They speak Bulgarian well and claim that this country is their home, the place where they always return to "recharge the batteries". Paul says that the Covid-pandemic and the isolation caused by the quarantine made them rethink their lifestyle.


The art couple, which have created thousands of sand sculptures all over the world and won the recognition of the Queen of England, draw inspiration from life in Bulgaria. Recently, on the occasion of 150 years after the death of Bulgaria's national hero Vasil Levski, the sculptors greeted the citizens of Burgas with a magnificent three-dimensional sand face of the Apostle of Freedom. The response was incredible - children and adults were all fascinated by the sand sculpture on the beach of Burgas and some were moved to tears.


Remy and Paul have a number of future projects in Bulgaria, which include a sand academy, where they will conduct workshops for children and adolescents.

English: Al. Markov

Photos and video: Remy and Paul Hoggard




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Georgi Andreev

Conductor and composer Georgi Andreev - on St. George's Day, traditions, music and dragons

One of the most prominent, gifted and active Bulgarian artists with the name Georgi is the conductor, composer and virtuoso gudulka player Georgi Andreev. ‎ Since 2000, he has been the chief conductor of the orchestra at the National Folklore..

published on 5/6/25 9:35 AM
Vasil Barkov

Bessarabian-Bulgarian director Vasil Barkov on difficult storylines - in cinema and in life

"The End of the River" is not just any film - it is a film that seeks to find the universal aspects of human experience across borders, while also serving as an expression of cultural dialogue between Bulgaria and Ukraine. Created through the..

published on 4/25/25 5:45 PM
Ivan Stoyanov and his family.

Ivan Stoyanov: I set out to earn a living - and found Life

Ivan Stoyanov is a Bessarabian Bulgarian from Moldova. Our team met him in the Bulgarian church of Sophronius of Vratsa, where we were working on another episode of the Bridge of Faith podcast, dedicated to the Bulgarian Orthodox community in Lyon,..

published on 4/21/25 7:15 AM