The Scottish International Storytelling Festival (SISF) is joining performers and audiences from all over the Dumfries and Galloway at this year’s Wild Goose Festival (18-25 Oct) hosted by The Stove Network.
Author and storyteller Allison Galbraith will be telling Funny Family Folktales (19 Oct) using woolly pets and songs for all ages. Plus, later that day, Allison will be joined by storyteller Beverley Casebow for Scottish Folktales: Bridges to the Otherworld an evening of tales about vexed fairies, nature wisdom and the supernatural, told with much humour.
Also taking part in the festival is guest storyteller Nuala Hayes who was founder/director of Dublin’s Storytelling Festival and is also an actor and broadcaster. She will be joined by musician Aoife Granville who currently teaches folklore at the University College Cork, for a relaxed evening event supported by Culture Ireland: Stories and Songs of Ireland (Fri 25 Oct) inspired by the Irish people and places they both know and love.
The Scottish International Storytelling Festival’s Go Local programme includes over 50 events taking place all over Scotland between October and November and is supported by Creative Scotland through its PLACE [Platforms for Creative Excellence] Programme. Events take place in village halls, pubs, castles and gardens, where storytellers will share stories about building bridges between cultures, artists and audiences through the power of storytelling.
Lovers of a good story can also tune into the Festival’s podcast series Another Story – which will feature some of this year’s festival storytellers as guests in the lead up to, and during the festival.
Plus, for those who can’t make it in person there’s the festival’s Global Lab strand which returns this year with four online workshops exploring intangible cultural heritage; the war in Gaza through the voices of children and young people; stories from across India hosted by the Folklogue Team; and a discussion of Scotland as a slaver nation trading in Jamaica hosted by Kate Philips, author of Bought and Sold: Scotland, Jamaica and Slavery.
Looking ahead to this year’s event, Scottish International Storytelling Festival Director, Donald Smith said: “In a world plagued by violence and division, the Scottish International Storytelling Festival offers bridges of imagination, fellow feeling and hope. And these qualities are inspired by a capital city that is celebrating 900 years of story, art and friendship.”
