In an age of constant “digital distractions”, it was a pleasure to find out about and attend the European Land Art Festival and the World Rock Stacking Championships. While the festivities took part all last week, we were only able to attend one day. Nevertheless, we had a great time as we were joined by our intrepid Golden Retriever explorers- Walter and Arthur-and are excited to now share more with all of you. Join us as we head to ‘sunny Dunny’ (aka Dunbar, Scotland) and check out some stunning land art!
We are fortunate that Scotland has some of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. Therefore, it only makes sense that it would be home to the European Land Art Festival (elaf). elaf (it’s branded in all lower-case letters) is a not-for-profit registered community interest group who wants to introduce the benefits of land art- especially to children whose lives are dominated by online noise.
Of course, many of us who did not grow up with mobile phones and the internet are fortunate that we were able to experience our childhoods playing outside in nature. I certainly have wonderful memories of endless hours playing in the woods as well as spending time on the water and beaches. I can recall creating sandcastles, skipping stones, and writing in the sand. As a child, I was simply having fun living in the moment and creating things with the materials that were around me. Fortunately, we have groups like elaf who have taken those ideas and elevated them into true art forms to be enjoyed by the public.
The festival originated as the ‘John Muir Stone Stacking Challenge’ in 2016. John Muir is a legend in the field of nature conservation and is especially well known in the United States thanks to his amazing work with the National Parks. However, many of you may not know that he was born in Dunbar, Scotland. We have been to his birthplace museum and have yet to publish an article on that visit. Therefore, if you haven’t done so already, be sure to subscribe to our blog so that you get that article (and so much more on our Scotland travels) delivered directly to your inbox once it’s published.
According to their website, from 2017-2021, the festival was known as the European Stone Stacking Championships and became a “satellite qualifying event for the World Rock Stacking Championships in Llano, Texas”. In 2022, “the festival evolved again when the stone stacking competition came under the umbrella of the European Land Art Festival (elaf), and is now running for a full week each July”. Events at this year’s festival included sand drawing workshops, sandcastle/sculpture competitions, stone balancing and community mandala workshops, communal sand drawing, live music, and the World Rock Stacking Championships (held this year in Dunbar but normally in Texas).
At this point, some of you may be wondering what exactly ‘rock stacking’ is. elaf explains on their website that “stone stacking is a meditative artistic skill which can be produced anywhere, with a growing global movement stone stacking utilises the materials found in nature and balancing using nothing more than the natural gravitational pull of the Earth”.
Furthermore, they explain the benefits of stone stacking on their website by outlining the “relaxation” and “creative processing” involved. They also point out “being at one with nature and focussing on a single task will help focus your mind and concentrate”.
And we are so fortunate that the public can also benefit by viewing these exquisite works of land art in person and online. With that said, our tour guide-in-training, Walter, will lead the way on this ‘explore and discover’ mission (wee Arthur also attended but is still learning from his older brother and preferred to watch more than participate).
Now, it seems that Walter might have misheard where we were going as the picture below indicates that he thought we were going to the World Rock Star Championships!🤦♂️He was clearly keen to show that, like his heavenly brother Finn, he could also be a rock star.
After a bit of explaining he finally understood that we were there to see the World Rock Stacking Championships, and eagerly headed down to the beach to see some of the stacks on display.
The World Rock Stacking Championships have both Junior (under 15 years) and Adult (Quantity and Artistic) competitions.
Even though it was cloudy, the location was still stunning and the various forms of land art that were created even more so!
Well, that is going to wrap up this wee visit to Dunbar, Scotland and the European Land Art Festival. What is particularly amazing is that elaf doesn’t charge any admittance fees for the festival or those entering the competition “to ensure access to the arts for the whole community”. Therefore, they rely on volunteers and donations to keep the annual festival going. If you enjoyed the art featured in this blog post and would like to help with next year’s festival, please consider donating to the elaf via their website. If you are in the area next year, be sure to check out the festival which will run from the 15-20 July 2025.
Until next time- Explore & Discover!
