Gingerbread Houses You’ve Got to See to Believe

There’s no sugarcoating it: The annual National Gingerbread House Competition, held at the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, is intense. The event pits dozens of architecturally minded amateur bakers against one another, vying for bragging rights and a grand prize of five thousand dollars.

Crowds of up to sixty thousand view the structures over the nearly six weeks they are on display—this year November 26–January 4. Here’s a look at some of the winners from the 2016 competition.