The 30th Scottish International Storytelling Festival is all set to take place, with the promise of ‘Growing Stories.’
The was launched at Dr Neil’s Garden, in Duddingston Village, in east Edinburgh, with performers, partners and curious public in attendance to hear about the rich, eclectic programme for 2018. It will run from 19-31 October.
Growing Stories reflects the nurturing of storytelling, as just like gardens they need care and attention, so they can blossom and be enjoyed by everyone.
Growing Stories also echoes the focus on Celtic stories between Scotland and Ireland, embracing the tales of Giants from myths that tell us the story of how our landscape was created.
Festival director Donald Smith praised the partners and individuals who all collaborate to bring the Storytelling Festival together, echoed beautifully by the surroundings.
David Mitchell, Scotland’s Gardens Scheme director embraced the power of storytelling, citing this year’s Open Gardens project as a huge success and comparing the Storytelling Festival to Dr Neil’s Garden – both of which have been cultivated by passionate people and communities eager to embrace connections with our natural environment and each other.
Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism & External Affairs Fiona Hyslop said: ‘The Storytelling Festival says so much about the world and so much about Scotland.
‘The 2018 Scottish International Storytelling Festival is an excellent opportunity to celebrate the great Scottish storytelling tradition and to showcase Scotland’s talent on the global stage.
‘Blending our rich Celtic roots with contemporary narratives, this year’s edition of the festival welcomes an excellent line-up of storytellers from across the world and emphasises our links with our Irish and international friends, confirming Scotland’s global and open outlook.
‘Since its launch, the festival has continued to explore stories that shape and inform us through storytelling and music on a national and international stage. That is why the Scottish Government is providing £90,000 from our Festivals Expo Fund, ensuring new talent and creativity flourishes in Scotland and elsewhere.’
Miriam Morris, national storytelling co-ordinator, gave insights into the Local Campaign, which encourages all communities in Scotland to research, record and recite the stories of local areas throughout Scotland, from allotment tales in Glasgow to an intergenerational workshop in Stirling.
Daniel Allison then treated everyone to an Australian story, complete with didgeridoo, in Dr Neil’s Garden, with nature providing the perfect audio backdrop to his tale of rainbow-winged moths whose colours melt into the snow to be drunk by the mountain flowers – which is how flowers get their colours!
With the support of the Scottish Government’s Festival Expo Fund, SISF will showcase Celtic riches – passed on through story, song and music.
The rise of Fionn, the mysterious passion of Sabha, the birth of Ossian as a deer-child, the loves of Diarmaid, the tragic hunting of the Boar that leads to his death, the departure of Ossian, and finally his return from the land of the ever living offer a shared Celtic epic, that long predates James MacPherson’s romantic poems.
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