Scottish International Storytelling Festival Launches at Burns Monument
20th Scottish International Storytelling Festival explores Homelands
2009’s Scottish International Storytelling Festival was launched by Minister for Culture, Michael Russell MSP at the Burns’ Monument, Regent Road, Edinburgh on Wednesday 30th September. Tickets for the Festivals’ packed programme are now on sale.
Subtitled Homelands, the 20th anniversary Festival spans 10 days from 23rd October, featuring 69 events in Edinburgh and across Scottish regions, as well as a busy education and community programme. The Festival is the annual focus for the celebration of Scottish storytelling traditions and culture, and a showcase for both Scottish and international storytelling talent. With a different international focus each year, the Festival is a catalyst for cultural exchange, while highlighting the richness and value of Scottish oral heritage to a wide audience.
Last year 16,900 adults and children participated in the Festival’s public and schools activities. With this year’s programme offering a wide range of events – from entertaining storytelling performance evenings through to participatory workshops – the 20th anniversary Festival, which is part of the 2009 Year of Homecoming is set to be the biggest yet.
Authentic voices
The Homelands theme is supported by a grant through the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund, alongside core financial support from the Scottish Arts Council, the City of Edinburgh Council and the Church of Scotland. The international theme takes in the culture, traditions and art of storytelling by exploring the shifting perception of ‘home’ in a world of increasing migration.
“Scotland has a vibrant tradition of storytelling and as one of our oldest arts forms it is a great way to preserve, celebrate and educate people about Scotland’s rich culture and heritage," said Culture Minister Michael Russell. "I’m delighted that Expo funding is supporting the Storytelling Festival as it embraces the year of Homecoming by exploring the rich and complex idea of a ‘homeland’. This year’s Festival will bring Scottish storytellers together with those from the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia amongst others for a celebration of lives and cultures.”
This year Expo funding has enabled the Festival to invite a stellar line-up of storytellers to the Festival, representing the indigenous and contemporary cultures of North America, Australia, New Zealand and the Caribbean. Guest artists are joined by leading Scottish storytellers in ‘authentic voices’ performances, lively talks and discussions, family events and storytelling skills workshops, all of which celebrate and question the notion of ‘nature’ through vivid historical and contemporary retellings of life narratives that bridge cultural divides.
Invited guest storytellers, such as Australia’s Sean Choolburra and the Caribbean’s Amina Blackwood Meeks, are active in promoting and nurturing oral traditions in their own countries. Their contributions to the Festival are designed to foster cultural exchange and understanding, as well as celebrating their expertise as individual performers. The Festival provides opportunities for future exchanges and visits between Scotland and indigenous cultures, and enables professional storytellers and those interested in oral traditions to meet and share ideas. The Festival is designed to provide audiences with the chance to encounter rich traditions and authentic voices in a memorable live experience.
Packed programme
Highlights of this year’s programme include the late-night Festival Club nights and Meet the Storyteller ‘taster’ events, as well as a series of 10 Authentic Voices evening storytelling performance events at the Storytelling Centre’s Netherbow Theatre. Family activities at the Storytelling Centre and with local partner organisations such as the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Museum of Edinburgh and the Scottish Seabird Centre compliment a rich events programme primarily designed for adults and older children.
This year the Festival also reaches out across Scotland through the Festival on Tour programme. International guests perform in Dundee, Stirling, Oban, Clashmore, Ullapool, Rothesay, Thurso, Glasgow, New Galloway and Insch.
The Festival’s national DIY storytelling initiative, Tell-a-Story Day (on 30th October) sees school pupils, parents, carers, artists and storytellers putting on their own storytelling and storymaking activities, bringing people of all ages and backgrounds together to share and create tales. Events already registered with Tell-a-Story Day are taking place in libraries, primary schools and care centres across Scotland under the tagline ‘it’s time to talk!’.
New partnerships
For the first time, the Festival is working with travel company Rabbie’s Trail Burners on a special partnership. An exclusive Festival short tour break includes tickets to some of the Festival’s key events alongside trips for Edinburgh to historic sites such as Stirling Castle. As in previous years, the Festival is supported by local partner organisations such as City of Edinburgh Council Museums, Filmhouse and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, who programme events on the Festival themes to complement the main programme at the Scottish Storytelling Centre. New partner venues for this year include the National Trust for Scotland at Gladstone’s Land and the National Museum of Scotland.
The hearth of Scotland
As a part of the final events for the Year of Homecoming, the Scottish International Storytelling Festival is a welcoming ‘hearthside’ for storytellers and listeners alike to experience the magic of live tales which are told, as an old Scottish proverb describes, ‘eye to eye’ without books, scripts or technology. The Festival is a jewel in the festival city’s autumn season, and a cultural treat waiting to be explored. Donald Smith, the Festival’s Director, emphasises the excitement and importance of the Festival saying, “The voices and stories are our continuing identity – our way of mapping the future by listening and speaking.”
The Scottish International Storytelling Festival runs from Friday 23rd October until Sunday 1st November 2009. Tickets are on sale now from the Scottish Storytelling Centre’s box office (0131 556 9579 or 0131 473 2000) and partner venues.
A full programme is available online at www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk or from the Scottish Storytelling Centre. Further information on the Festival can also be found at www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk and online bookings for events at the Centre can be made through www.hubtickets.co.uk.
Tell-a-Story Day is Friday 30th October. Participants should register by contacting Caroline Budge on caroline@scottishstorytellingcentre.com to receive a free support pack.
Festival partners
Scottish Storytelling Centre partners for this year’s Festival are Argyll & Bute Council; Blether Tay-Gither; The CatStrand; City of Edinburgh Council; City of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries; Edinburgh World Heritage; Filmhouse; Forestry Commission Scotland; Gladstone’s Land & The National Trust for Scotland; Glasgow Culture & Sport; Glasgow Storytellers; Grampian Association of Storytellers; Highland Homecoming; National Museum of Scotland; New Zealand Society Scotland; Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh; Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland; University of Edinburgh School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures; Scottish Poetry Library; Scottish Seabird Centre and Stirling Council.
Rabbies Trail Burners partnership
For the first time, the Scottish International Storytelling Festival is working in partnership with travel company Rabbie’s Trail Burners, to provide an exclusive Festival short break package and special offers for Rabbie’s customers. For more information please CLICK HERE.
