DUNBAR is gearing up to host the World Rock Stacking Championships this weekend.

Taking place in East Lothian for the first time, the competition runs on Saturday and Sunday during the final days of the European Land Art Festival.

The coastal town will host competitors from across the world, with categories including a junior event, tallest stack contest and adult artistic solo competition.

The event’s director James Craig Page, who hosted Europe’s first ever stone stacking championship in 2016, is excited for the global competition to arrive in his home town of Dunbar.

James first became interested in stone stacking more than 30 years ago after coming across the work of an artist online.

He told the Courier: “I was so inspired by what I’ve seen and also didn’t understand how it was actually humanly possible.

“I ended up going down the beach and giving it a go and, when the first drop cut into place, I just got this buzz of electricity.

“I became immediately hooked on it and spent the next 30 years learning how to do it and improving, building tall stacks and towers.”

Image: Laurence Winram 

Stone-stacking involves building impressive gravity-defying structures using rocks, which James describes as a “meditative artistic skill”.

He said: “The most important thing about stone balancing is the stone selection. It takes an artist a little bit of time and also going back to the same beach to really know what stones – the shapes and the colours – you want to work with.

“The other important element is to have a very solid foundation. If you don’t have a solid foundation, as you build up the way it will start to shake and a little bit of wind will knock it over.”

The first World Championships was held in 2015 and the event usually takes place in Texas. There is a strong international interest in the art, with competitors visiting East Lothian from across the world.

Go to Elafest.com for more information.