Lights of the North at 2025 Storytelling Festival
The 2025 Scottish International Storytelling Festival, which runs from the 22 Oct – 1 Nov 2025, explores Scotland’s northern identity, sharing tales, songs and myths from the world’s northern arc, which bridges Finland to Iceland and connects Germany to Norway, with Scotland in between.
Over 11 days, some of the North’s most celebrated storytellers will join leading voices from Scotland to bring a feast of world-class storytelling, music, workshops, and shared experiences to Edinburgh and venues across Scotland.
Lets take a look at some of the highlights.
A Watery World
- Land of Many Waters: Land of rivers, lochs and waterways, Scotland is a place where the signs of Cailleach, Bodach and Salmon still shimmer amidst the stones and shrines
- The People of the Sea: brings selkie myths and coastal voices from Scotland and Ireland back to life, capturing the mythic bond between people and nature;
- Selkie - Past, Present and Future: Niall Moorjani and Ailsa Dixon present an evocative and moving exploration of what it is to be human, as they lyrically synthesise storytelling with live music and Orcadian folk song;
An International Smorgasbord
- Of Stars, Bears and the Beginning of Time: Take a mythical journey through the celestial origin stories of the Fenno-Baltic tradition, told by Finnish-born storyteller Riikka Palonen, accompanied by folk musician Richard Clarke
- Norwegian Tales: Norwegian storytellers Mimesis Heidi Dahlsveen and Georgiana Keable Jerstad share tales of trolls, hens and strange husbands
- Icelandic Tales: Storyteller Hjörleifur Stefánsson shares tales from the spellbinding highlands of Iceland, where locals and Huldufólk (hidden people) live in harmony, most of the time.
The Travelling Community
- Tales of the Travellers: Enjoy a flow of tales and songs with Scotland’s Travelling People, whose traditions have been gathered from all parts of Scotland
- Martyn Bennett and the Travellers Stories: The music of the pioneering Scottish musician Martyn Bennett flowed with many inspirations, none more so than that of the Scottish Travellers
- The Scottish Travellers in Focus: Scotland’s storytelling renaissance could not have happened without the generosity of Scotland’s Travelling People. Enjoy the flow of tales with two storytellers who draw on rich Traveller family and cultural traditions.
Family Events
- Step into a soft, sensory storytelling experience in A Dispute with a Butterfly,create your own mini-saga with Macastory and tell it in the style of the ancient Viking Skalds, hear about a girl who faced a dragon with stories as her weapons and armour in Dragon Tale, or join us for some Tales of Cold Forests and Cosy Bears
- BLOOM is a dance performance and personal story from Tokyo-born, Scotland-based percussive stepdancer Kae Sakurai. This lyrical and innovative work blends expressive percussive dance with original music inspired by tradition, complemented by poetic video projections.
- Family Ceilidh: A fun introduction to sociable dancing with live music. Come with family and friends to dance Scottish dances and sing well-known songs with the Minnow Cèilidh Band. All dances will be called and there’ll be easy-to-follow circles for wee ones.
- Botanics Storytelling Day: Giant turnips, lush rampions, magic beans and pumpkins turned into golden coaches! Veggie gardens have thrived with stories since the beginning of time. You are welcome to come and discover them with our storytellers, for an afternoon of fun and magic for all ages!
Throughout the Festival
- Workshops: everything from learning how to work with sound archives, exploring pace and rhythm when working with a musician, discovering the original gruesome Grimm tales, learning the legacy of Hungary’s last traditional Roma storyteller, to a taboo-breaking workshop on death
- Open Hearth: these sessions gather together storytellers and musicians for a relaxed evening of stories and music in the Netherbow Theatre. As the darkness closes in and minds glow with pictures in the symbolic fire, this is the perfect way to end your day!
- Festival Exhibition: Stories Drawn from the Land by Hester Aspland will be in the Storytelling Centre throughout the festival. This stunning collection of ink illustrations and ceramics draws lines between traditional stories and wild places.