The Scottish International Storytelling Festival is the world’s largest celebration of storytelling and 2024 marks its 35th anniversary. The Festival’s programme is packed with events for families to enjoy over the October school holidays and kicks off on Saturday 12 October, ahead of the festival’s main programme (18 to 31 Oct). Family highlights include storytelling fun and adventures with Claire McNicol and Linda Williamson in Raven Jack and Lady Unicorn; dancing and stories with Moyra Banks and Fergus McNicol; tales of dragons and tunes from Lithuania and Scotland; and The Hairy Tale of Sam the Skull about a gallus Glasgow cat, told by storyteller Alastair McIver. There is also a chance for young storytellers to learn new skills in the 3-day workshop series School of Storycraft.
The festival’s 35th anniversary coincides with 35 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and its theme ‘Bridges Between’ looks at how societies can ‘build bridges’ between cultures, artists and audiences all over the world through the power of storytelling. Earlier this year storytellers and artists were invited to submit new work based on this theme, and The Bouncy Billy Goats Gruff, was chosen as one of ten new commissions for this year’s programme. The Bouncy Billy Goats Gruff is a sensory take on the tale of the three billy goats who try to cross the river to the green grass on the other side, and has been specially created by storyteller Ailie Finlay for children with additional needs and their families and friends.
This year’s programme is also full of opportunities for families to get outdoors and enjoy the autumn sunshine. Highlights include the return of the Botanics Storytelling Day held in the Royal Botanic Garden, and Macastory’s Caddie Capers where audiences can join Ron Fairweather and Fergus McNicol on an exhilarating storytelling adventure through the streets, stairways and closes of old Edinburgh. This year the ‘capers’ will also include a newly devised Renaissance themed tour as part of Edinburgh’s 900 year celebrations.
The festival’s main programme is based at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh, however events also take place in village halls, parks and pubs across Scotland, from Orkney and the Western Isles to the Scottish Borders, up until the end of November.
This Scotland-wide programme, called Go Local, includes nearly 50 live storytelling events, many with a traditionally spooky theme for Halloween. Highlights include fireside ghost stories told by Eileen Budd at Balintore Castle; Spooky Tales by the Bay with Lauren Bianchi at Lochawe; supernatural stories from the otherworld told by Allison Galbraith and Beverley Casebow as part of the Wild Goose Festival in Dumfries and Galloway; and a Halloween Story Hunt in EATS Rosyth Orchard in Dunfermline with Sarah Wedderburn-Ogilvy.
Daniel Abercrombie, Associate Director Scottish International Storytelling Festival said: “This year’s family programme builds on the success of previous years and celebrates the love that children have for hearing great stories told to them by their parents, their elders and their friends. We are delighted to welcome some of the world’s greatest storytellers to take centre stage at this festival and we really hope that families and friends will join us in taking our imaginations to other worlds.”
Tickets to each event in the programme cost a maximum of £12, with family events costing just £5 per ticket. Many events in the Go Local programme are free and for those planning on attending multiple events, the Festival Pass offers discounted tickets to many live festival events, online and at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, as well as a discount at the Scottish Storytelling Centre’s bookshop and Haggis Box Café.
