Traditional arts, crafts, music, storytelling and community practice will come together in Edinburgh this May as TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) launches its Living Heritage Discovery Day at the Scottish Storytelling Centre. Taking place on 10 May 2026, the free public event will celebrate Scotland’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) – the traditions, skills, customs … Continued

Scotland’s biggest annual nature writing competition is underway for its third successive year. Words of the Wild, organised by the Scottish Wildlife Trust in association with the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, invites budding writers to share their stories about Scotland’s wildlife and wild places. This year’s theme is “Changing seasons” as entrants are encouraged to … Continued

An exciting opportunity to join our Duty Management team at a vibrant visitor attraction and arts venue in central Edinburgh. In the role you will provide an excellent standard of customer service as the first point of contact for all visitors to the Scottish Storytelling Centre. You will work with colleagues and partners to provide a … Continued

We’re pleased to share that Round 2 of the Traditional Arts and Culture Fund is now open for applications. Thank you to everyone who applied for Round 1 – we were blown away by the number of applications. It was heart-warming to see such a wide and distinctive range of traditional arts being practised across … Continued

The Scottish International Storytelling Festival (SISF) will take place from Wednesday 21st to Saturday 31st October 2026. This year, we open up rich relationships between storytelling and the natural environment, exploring the traditional and contemporary ties between humans, birds and the animal world through our theme ‘Bird and Beast‘. SISF now invites proposals for consideration … Continued

I have been fascinated by bagpipes for as long as I can remember. It began, I’m told, when, as a three-year-old boy growing up in the Perthshire town of Pitlochry, I used to demand to be taken down to the main street every week in the summer months to watch the local pipe band, the … Continued

Today, on World Storytelling Day (Friday 20 March), TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) is delighted to announce the appointment of Daniel Abercrombie as the new Director of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival. An experienced creative arts producer deeply embedded within the storytelling community in Scotland, Daniel will take up his appointment from April 2026. … Continued

The Traditional Music Forum of Scotland is delighted to be heading to CatStrand in New Galloway in May for more Essential Skills Workshops for Traditional Musicians, this time with festival organiser, folk music agent, and creative producer Katch Holmes. Our industry-focussed workshops are designed to offer invaluable insights and practical guidance for musicians and organisations working within … Continued

The Traditional Music Forum of Scotland is delighted to be heading to An Lanntair in Stornoway, for the first of our 2026 Essential Skills Workshops for Traditional Musicians, with more workshops to be announced soon! Our industry-focussed workshops are designed to offer invaluable insights and practical guidance for musicians and organisations working within traditional music … Continued

Secret marriages, hand-crafted love notes, and carefully chosen tokens of affection – six hundred years ago, these were the kinds of Valentine’s Day customs one might have been privy to. Emerging from a weaving of Roman, pagan and Christian traditions, Valentine’s Day has shifted and been reshaped over centuries, with many Scottish customs long held … Continued