Since 2015, visitors have descended upon Llano every March to attend the Llano Earth Art Festival (LEAF). The World Rock Stacking Championship would take place during the annual event with various categories including Artistic, Height, Arches, Quantity, and Balance. For nearly 10 years Llano was the destination for many competitors from the UK, Australia, Spain, New Zealand, Greece, Ireland, Scotland and all across the United States. However in 2024, due to the anticipated tourist numbers during the eclipse, LEAF did not take place and Llano did not host the World Rock Stacking Championship. The competition was instead held July 8-14 in Dunbar, Scotland. Once again, the event drew competitors from all over the world.
Terry “Tex” Tolar and Denton Machuga traveled from Llano, Texas to Dunbar, Scotland to participate in the European Land Arts Festival (ELAF). These men traveled across the world to represent Texas and Montana, and also to honor the community of Llano and the LEAF coordinators for making the competitions enjoyable for all every year. Also in Scotland to enjoy the culture and the ELAF events was the infamous Yeti (Dale) from Llano, TX.
Tolar, who enjoys the peacefulness of rock stacking and has been a LEAF judge in Llano for many years, was asked to offer guidance and expertise while helping judge the competitions in Scotland.
Denton Machuga has competed in the height division at LEAF since 2018, his first year attending the festival with his family. He had no prior experience in rock stacking when he and his brother entered the Junior Height Division. “I had no plan to compete,” Denton told The News. “Somehow I ended up winning first. Since then I was hooked and have stacked at LEAF every year since, with the exception of 2021 because of the pandemic.” he said.
Prior to the July competition, Denton had won the height category in 4 out of the past 5 competitions and held the World Record height at 101 inches. At ELAF he managed to defend his title, smash his previous record, and is now the 5x World Rock Stacking Champion with a new height of 110.2 inches (9ft 2in). In an interview he gave to a Scotland radio station he said, “While I’m actively stacking, I go into my own little space. Where there is nothing but me and the rocks and the Earth beneath me. I’m in the zone, almost a state of euphoria.”
His record setting stack at ELAF came together quickly, catching the crowd’s attention. “Within five minutes, my stack was already far above my head. I heard everyone shouting ‘You've basically already won’ and ‘Just stop now,’ but that's not what I do. That's not who I am,” he recalled.
While he mainly focuses on stacking for height or arches, Denton has been getting interested in other forms of land art. “It really started to appear more in my designs when I went to Scotland. I was introduced to other art forms by Jon Foreman, Pontus Jansson, and Mayumi Nakabayashi, who are more professional land artists than I could ever be, and were kind enough to talk to me about their land art …including sand art, floral and vegetative mandalas, and point balance to name a few,” he said.
We asked for his thoughts about a LEAF comeback in 2025. “It would be great if the world championships were hosted here in 2025,” he said, but ultimately he would like to see the competition hosted internationally in a different country each year. Of his experience in Scotland, Denton said the environment was more hospitable to newcomers. “Everyone was extremely welcoming to the sport of rock stacking, and even encouraged children to join the sport. (At LEAF) they are a little more reserved … People or groups have tried to shut it down and have purposely ruined the land art, which can sometimes take hours or even days to complete,” he said.
Ceto Desai, former LEAF volunteer and rock stacking competitor, is spearheading the efforts to bring back the festival in 2025. He said he is actively working on it and will be going before the City Council in mid-September to apply for use of the (Grenwelge) park. Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Ceto at 325-423-0188.
Denton’s work can be seen on Instagram @denton_machuga, or @the_rock_stacking_rebel, where there are links to his YouTube page.
