As a local native of Edinburgh, I am always proud to share and help raise the profile of some great local events and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival is one of these events. Lindsey Corr, from the Scottish Storytelling Centre gives us a lowdown of the highlights of this year's festival.
Hello!
Taking place between the 21-30th October the Scottish International Storytelling Festival presents a programme of storytelling showcasing the legends and myths of Scotland, in exploration with another corner of the globe, highlighting the power of storytelling as an ancient and modern artform.
Storytelling is a wonderful gateway to culture as its heritage is directly informed by the stories of place, and the Festival explores Scottish customs and international traditions.
This year the focus is on Islands and the Festival explores the human need to explore, travel and discover as there is something about islands that catches our imagination, gives birth to stories, inspires melody and sets the foot tapping. In a feast of island culture the Festival celebrates the stories of Scotland’s islands along with those of the Mediterranean as we follow in the footsteps of Odysseus as he traversed the world in search of wonder; kicking off with A Thousand Island Welcomes on Friday 21 October at 7.30pm, featuring a host of Scottish storytelling talent and respected musicians who throw open the door of hospitality with an evening of enchantments from Scotland’s isles.
Meet the Storytellers alongside Island Nights
The Storytelling Centre presents a programme of Island Nights which partner up a Scottish atoll with a Mediterranean isle, to explore and celebrate the similarities and differences in island traditions, stories and music, perfectly showcasing traditional entertainment using a ceilidh event that brings the word back to its original meaning – the swapping of yarns, songs and music in an inclusive, authentic and relaxed evening. This theme gives the opportunity for the Festival to share seminal Scottish tales of pirates, fishermen, selkies and journeys while visiting Mediterranean storytellers from Cyprus, Crete, Sardinia and Greece remember the ancient gods, heroes and monsters from their own culture.
6 Island Nights events take place at the Centre, with 8 taking place on Scotland’s Islands, as part of the Festival on Tour, which showcases visiting storytellers in remoter areas of Scotland, ensuring everyone can experience and be part of the Festival.
Continuing the allure of Islands, we explore their cultures through our free series of Meet the Storyteller events. Each evening at the Centre at 5pm, a Scottish or Mediterranean storyteller share their traditions, customs and stories in a relaxed and informal session.
There’s tales in every artform
As well as the Festival’s usual international raconteurs, we have developed our programme to include dancers, musicians and artists. Cypriot printmaker Hambis Tsangaris, aims to be the voice of his country and uses his colourful print works to tell the story of Cyprus; its torments and joys, its beauty and folk traditions in a free lecture, Cyprus: An Island Experience on Wednesday 26 October at 6pm. He teams up with Heleni Achilleos, who originally hails from Cyprus but is now based in the UK, to share the traditions of Cyprus’ folktales with all the family in Aphrodite's Island - Gods, Goddesses, Heroes and Champions on Saturday 22 October at 2pm and both also takes part in our Edinburgh Partner Venue event Printing Tales on Sunday 23 October at 1.30pm, when participants get the opportunity to create their own linocut after inspirational Cypriot tales at Edinburgh Printmakers.
Sofia Papdia is a Greek-Cypriot dancer who has lived in Cyprus and Athens and has 5 years’ experience in teaching Greek traditional dances to Greeks and non-Greeks in the UK; she takes the opportunity to showcase some stunning traditional costumes and helps us learn a few steps in Dancing the Stories on Saturday 29 October at 11am.
Doing it for the Kids
Storytelling is a great way for youngsters to engage with literacy and explore their imaginations, and each year the Festival has a rich and varied programme for families to get involved with yarn weaving and game playing.
The Yard Adventure Centre will be transformed into a Greek columned temple covered with vines and sprinkled with gold on Saturday 22 October at 11am as storytellers Ailie Finlay and Marie Louise Cochrane bring to life the legends of King Midas and the Golden Touch, Pandora’s Box and The Trojan Horse using multi-sensory props, smells and music, enabling those with visual impairment, and complex and multiple disabilities to enjoy these ancient tales.
Check out the Magic Carpet: Storytelling Festival Special! events at the National Museum of Scotland on Tuesday 25, Wednesday 26 and Thursday 27 October at 10.30am, as well as the irrepressible Mac-a-Story duo who present high energy tales of the Olympics and sporting deeds in a contest to find the Champion of Champions at 2pm and 3.30pm.
Royal Botanic Garden presents two sessions of Tales from the Forest and the Sea on Sunday 23 October at 2pm and 4pm while at the Centre we have Team Olympus: Gods, Goddesses, Heroes and Champions which promises tales of Olympic proportions and plenty of craft activities. Plus the magical Tell-a-Story Day, with events both at the Storytelling Centre and at North Edinburgh Arts Centre on Friday 28 October at 10am and 11am respectively.
The Big Finish
The Finale weekend of the Festival promises to mesmerise both regular storyteller-goers and those new to experience the engrossing artform, with a weekend of activity at Edinburgh’s gothic Hub Centre at the top of the Royal Mile. The Festival offers the unprecedented opportunity to witness a live performance of Homer’s epic The Odyssey, featuring a myriad of storytellers and musicians coming together for a spectacular afternoon and evening session on Saturday 29 October at 3pm and 7pm.
Storyteller Bob Pegg perfectly sums up the excitement of taking on the almost 3000 year old storytelling classic:
This is the greatest epic in Western history, with the scope of a Hollywood blockbuster. How can the humble storyteller convey the intricacies of character and recreate the spectacular imagery? The answer: by taking the story back to its original form, For there's little doubt that, before it was written down by Homer nearly 3000 years ago, the Odyssey was told, possibly even sung, by bards in public performance. If we storytellers do our job well, a great cinema screen - complete with 3-D and surround sound - will light up in the individual heads of our audience, giving each one them a personalised viewing of the story, from the slow-burning beginning, through adventures and romance, to the vengeful carnage of the conclusion.
Listen to one of Bob’s stories here.
The final day of the Festival sees the usual exploration of the seasonal changes as the city prepares for the Winter Solstice, and mark’s Old Hallows Eve by exploring the traditional tales and legends of the spirit world with Hosting the Spirits on Sunday 30 October at 7.30pm at the Hub, as well as a chance to explore the link between Saints and Islands in an afternoon event which explores the spiritual roots of religion in A Circle of Saints at 3pm.
For full details and a downloadable programme see www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk or visit us at 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SR
