Scottish International Storytelling Festival
Great stories well told can evoke indelible images in the mind of the listener, offering visitors and locals a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the extraordinary tales, music and characters that bring both our contemporary and traditional culture to life. The Scottish International Storytelling Festival does this like no other, bringing together a host of Scottish and international storytellers and musicians.
The Festival takes place in October each year, as the seasons change with long nights drawing families and friends around the hearth, inspired by the Scottish ceilidh tradition and its sense of togetherness – a community gathering full of tales, anecdotes, music, songs and ballads. Performance, workshops, talks and children’s events radiate out from Scotland’s capital, as the best of Scotland’s storytelling talent merge with invited global guests, offering a plethora of opportunities to celebrate and discover oral traditions and cultural diversity.
What makes it special?
- The festival launched in 1989 and continues to evolve, engaging people in the magic of storytelling from its home in the Scottish Storytelling Centre - the only purpose built home for storytelling in the UK.
- From storytelling performances to panel discussions, and a lively family strand of storytelling activities around Halloween, there’s something here for all Festival-goers to get involved with.
- Although each event has a structure, there will always be an informal and improvised element, which is the beauty of live storytelling, echoing the old Traveller proverb that ‘a story is told eye to eye, mind to mind, heart to heart’.
