Scottish International Storytelling Festival

The Scottish International Storytelling Festival, returns in October 2020 with a mix of online events and small-scale face-to-face performances.

About Scottish International Storytelling Festival

This autumn, the Scottish International Storytelling Festival will take you on a voyage, exploring Scotland’s coasts and waters through music and storytelling, keeping you ‘In the Flow’ from 17 – 31 October 2020.

Stories and songs are vital for human survival. They carry our emotions, memories and values. They bind us together as families, communities and a nation, especially through tough times. The Scottish International Storytelling Festival will continue to channel that flow with an increased focus on wellbeing in the year of Covid-19.

The Festival will not do this in packed theatres, but through live and pre-recorded broadcast events, and through small-scale safely distanced person-to-person events, including ones in outdoor locations. All plans are subject to Scottish Government guidance in the autumn period.

Our online programme will see the return of SISF favourites like our evening gatherings around the Open Hearth, as well as Global Lab, the workshop series that brings together performers, educators and activists to discuss international environmental creativity.

We’ll also be premiering Voyage, a brand-new series of work developed by storytellers and musicians, including interpretations of the slave passage across the Atlantic and Scotland’s part in it, the colonisation of Iceland, James VI’s ‘Hamlet’ voyage to Elsinore, Johnson and Boswell’s Tour to the Hebrides and the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition.

Running alongside SISF from 12 Oct – 30 Nov, the Community and Families Programme will pair local storytellers with partner organisations in online and small-scale live settings, unlocking the ethos of ‘going local’.

Set sails with us this autumn and stay in the flow by following our hashtag, #SISFInTheFlow and find out more:

All information (whether in text or photographs) is supplied in good faith but should not be relied upon as being a statement of representation or fact. We take every opportunity to ensure the details for Scottish International Storytelling Festival are accurate, please contact us at hello[@]whatsonnetwork.co.uk if any of the above information is incorrect.

Upcoming Events at Scottish International Storytelling Festival

Global Lab

27th September 2020 - 30th October 2020

Scottish International Storytelling Festival, Online Event Edinburgh

Global Lab offers inspiring examples of creative practice in the arts, education and frontline activism, with the opportunity to share, question and dialogue.
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Open Hearth

17th October 2020 - 31st October 2020

Scottish International Storytelling Festival, Online Event Edinburgh

The Festival’s famous Open Hearth sessions move online in a ceilidh of cultures and featuring some of the finest traditional storytellers from around the world.
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Storytelling Cafe Sessions

17th October 2020 - 31st October 2020

Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh Old Town

Rediscover the joy of ‘eye to eye, mind to mind, and heart to heart’ storytelling at the Scottish Storytelling Centre as part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival.
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The Gruagach Solais

17th October 2020 - 31st October 2020

Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh Old Town

Claire Hewitt’s images are a response to the abundant natural and mythological landscape around her.
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SISF: Black History Walking Tour of Edinburgh

Selected dates between 25th October 2020 - 31st October 2020

Scottish International Storytelling Festival, Various Locations Edinburgh

Hear the fascinating but littleknown stories of Edinburgh’s deep connections with Africa, Asia and the Caribbean over the past 500 years.
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