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Give the Gift of Stories this Holiday Season

Happy St Nicholas Day!

Ho Ho Ho! Let us take you away from the stress of the holiday season with a carefully curated list of gift ideas that even the Grinch would like. After all, who doesn’t love a good story?

Storytelling Centre Supporter Pass

Do you know someone who loves (or would learn to love!) the Scottish Storytelling Centre? Why not gift a Storytelling Centre Supporter membership this Christmas? Purchase a membership before Thursday 19 December, and we will send you a SCS membership card in the mail just in time for Christmas.

Click here to purchase a pass.

What’s included:

    • Discounts on many Centre events, including the Scottish International Storytelling Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe
    • 10% discount in our bookshop
    • 10% discount in the Storytelling Café
    • Invites to special events
    • A quarterly mailing of our What’s On guide (by post if desired)
    • Contributing to the development and work of the SSC
    • Once you have purchased the membership we will be in touch with further information

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call on 0131 556 9579 or email supporters@scottishstorytellingcentre.com

Membership active from the 1/01/2020

Festive Picks from the Bookshop

Our independent bookshop, located in the medieval luckenbooths of the John Knox House, is a haven for classic tales for young and old, Scottish folklore, graphic novels and books on Scottish history. We have an eclectic collection, and with no online store, it’s back to shopping the old fashioned way! Our lovely staff is always happy to help with recommendations – just ask!

We’re open:

    • Mon – Sat: 10am – 6pm
    • Evenings during performances

Come in and enjoy a browse!

Counting Blessings
£7.99 | Ages 2-5
Counting Blessings is a delightful book that reminds us to appreciate and be grateful for what we have, from a happy family to the blue sky above. This book is charmingly illustrated and beautifully written, and it is a perfect bedtime story for your wee ones.
Hortari
£28
An absolutely spellbinding series of vignettes about exploration and the natural world. The reader uncovers eccentric characters, distant lands and an infinite sense of wonder. The stories are complimented by stunning illustrations from Mary-Alice Harel.
The Sleeper and the Spindle
£12.99 | 9+
Effortlessly charming and delightfully twisted, this collaboration from winning duo Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell subverts well-known fairy-tales, rewriting them in a poignant, witty way. Gaiman’s love for the stories we tell each other shines through on every page, making this book perfect for both reading to young ones and enjoying yourself on a cold winter’s evening.
The Book of Beasties
£8 | 9+
Designed to mimic an old-fashioned textbook that could have been plucked straight out of the classes of Harry Potter, this wickedly weird book examines a wide range of Scottish beasts and creatures. The sketches and typography evoke the sense that the book has been handwritten, and you can spend ages pouring over every entry, each stranger than the last.

Supper with Burns

Show someone the power of stories with a taster of one of our events, our ever popular Supper with Burns.

Thu 23 & Fri 24 Jan | 7pm (2hrs 30) | £30

A seasonal favourite! Join us for an alternative Burns Supper in the beautiful setting of the Storytelling Court, serving up a delicious 3-course Scottish dinner – with the centre piece Haggis – and a generous helping of Burns’ stories, song and lore. Hosted by storytellers David Campbell and Ruth Kirkpatrick, with clarsach player Katie Harrigan. Also featuring Daniel Allison’s wonderful rendition of Tam O’Shanter!

Book early to avoid disappointment!

Part of Scotland’s Winter Festivals.

Book Now

Holiday Events at the Centre


We’re feeling festive at the Centre, and our December programme is chock full of events to get you in the holiday spirit! Strange Town is back with three pantos with a twist: Cindy, Sno Wite & The 7 Dickensians and Jaq & The Beanstalk, and you can catch holiday favourite It’s a Wonderful Life starting next Sunday.

Storyteller Daniel Serridge is makes his epic return with a festive edition of his popular Fringe show, Feast of Fools: Christmas Special, and if you’re looking for a little bit of magic after Christmas Day, check out our Magic Festival events, A Matter of Perspective – An Exhibition on Photographic Illusions, Magic School and Tricky Ricky Christmas Madness!

Check out our full programme.