We're delighted to introduce our new Themed Year for 2022, Scotland's Year of Stories. Our nationwide programme of more than 60 events, presented by a range of partners from national organisations to community groups, has been unveiled today (14 December 2021). Scotland's Year of Stories 2022 embodies the wealth of stories inspired by, written, or created in Scotland. As the year progresses, we'll continue to add events throughout 2022.
Book festivals, musical journeys, favourite cartoon characters and fresh takes on our culture and heritage, will form part of a dazzling programme of events to celebrate Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022.
The programme was launched along with a new promotional video featuring the voice of Game of Thrones star James Cosmo. The Clydebank-born actor, known for his role in the fantasy epic as well as numerous Scottish film and TV shows, lends his distinctive timbre to inspire visitors and locals to explore Scotland and celebrate the Year of Stories.
Read on to find out more about what the Year of Stories has in store:
Watch our digital launch of the Year of Stories 2022 events programme
The story begins across January-March with:
- Glasgow’s Celtic Connections presenting ‘Whisper the Song’, a series of five newly commissioned events celebrating Scotland's rich tradition of stories, interwoven with music, song and film.
- Once Upon a Time in South Ayrshire, beginning with a celebration of Burns then featuring a varied programme of events, exhibitions and experiences that will run across the year.
- Spectra – Scotland’s Festival of Light, returns to Aberdeen in February, celebrating the humour, seriousness and sheer gallus of Scotland’s storytellers, including ‘Writ Large’, which will beam the country’s finest contemporary storytellers’ prose and poetry in large scale projections and neon.

Image credit Ian Georgeson
Turning the page into spring 2022 (March-April) events:
- StAnza, Scotland’s International Poetry Festival presents Stories like starting points, exploring the role of stories in poetry and introducing a brand-new Young Makars poetry initiative.
- Stornoway’s An Lanntair presents Seanchas, a series of events, films and special commissions celebrating tales from the Hebrides both real and imagined, modern and ancient.

Image credit VisitScotland / Ian Rutherford
Summer (May-September) provides plenty to write home about:
- Borders Book Festival returns to Melrose with a special programme celebrating and exploring tales with themes from Walter Scott, to the Great Tapestry of Scotland.
- The Wire Women project taking place as part of Perth and Kinross’ Year of Stories with community groups, creatives and cultural organisations sharing the stories of women, all connected through objects in the collections of the new City Hall Museum
- Celebrating its 75th anniversary, Edinburgh International Film Festival will bring Scotland’s Stories On Screen to iconic and exciting places and spaces.
- The Dundee Summer (Bash) Street Festival will hail Dundee as the home of comics, celebrating its characters, stories, history and upcoming talent. The city will be declared as BEANOTOWN, with a pop-up comic museum, workshops, talks, film screenings, street fun and world record attempts.
- The world-renowned Edinburgh International Book Festival presents Scotland’s Stories Now – proving everyone has a story to tell with tales gathered from across the country and then shared at the flagship event.
- In Skye, SEALL and Gaelic singer Anne Martin lead An Tinne, a collection of songs, stories and objects from across the centuries exploring the deep and fascinating connection between Scotland and Australia.
- Moray Speyside’s Findhorn Bay Festival will offer a journey of exploration and discovery, celebrating the area’s heritage, landscape and people.
- The Wigtown Book Festival in Scotland’s National Book Town will present two new commissions, Into the Nicht, an immersive Dark Skies tour, and Walter in Wonderland, a whirlwind theatrical tour through the history of the nation’s literature.
- The Northern Stories Festival led by Lyth Arts Centre in Caithness promises a spectacular celebration of the stories of the Far North.

Image credit Audrey Russell Photography
Continuing the story into autumn and winter:
- Transgressive North bringing us Map of Stories, in partnership with the International Storytelling Festival, ‘film ceilidh’ events celebrating the most iconic voices from Scotland’s oral storytelling traditions will invoke the places and landscapes from which they emerge.
- Stirling Castle plays host to Tales from the Castle, an after-hours event which opens the gates to extraordinary stories and takes you on a journey through language and time.
- Scotland's Stories – Community Campfires, led by Scottish Book Trust will take place across the country, engaging with communities and showcasing people's tales from their own lives. It will feature Luke Winter’s Story Wagon and culminating at Book Week Scotland in November.
There are also a number of events that will take place across the year, with some touring the country:
- Edinburgh, Benmore, Logan and Dawyck Botanic Gardens will host Of Scotland’s Soils and Soul - a multi-sensory journey celebrating stories inspired by Scotland’s rich and diverse plant life.
- The Scottish Storytelling Centre & Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust present Figures of Speech with prominent and emerging figures responding to our iconic stories and imagining them afresh, sparking new dialogues and directions.
- The RSNO bring us Yoyo and the Little Auk, a new story celebrating our diverse cultures for Early Years Audiences with an animated film and live performances at events and festivals across Scotland.
- Songs from the Last Page from Chamber Music Scotland will take place at book festivals, libraries, and community spaces and will create new songs from the last lines of our great and favourite fiction: turning endings into beginnings.

Image credit VisitScotland / Kenny Lam
The events programme will bring Scotland’s places and spaces to life, sharing stories old and new covering everything from local tales to oral traditions, iconic books, to tales told on the big screen. They will be told by diverse voices and discovered in many different places, showcasing the many sides of Scotland’s distinct culture.
Across the country, from national to community organisations and businesses, people are preparing to tell their tales of Scotland, shining a spotlight on iconic stories and storytellers, tales of our people, places and legends and stories inspired by nature.
For 2022, the Themed Year will include a brand new events programme strand. The Community Stories Fund has been designed to support organisations and community groups to take part in and celebrate the year, spotlighting the unique stories that matter to them. The fund is being delivered in partnership between VisitScotland and Museums Galleries Scotland, with support from National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.
Around 100 events will be supported through the Community Stories Fund including:
- Weaving with words: the magic of Highland Storytelling at Hugh Miller's Birthplace Museum will feature a series of guided storytelling walks around Cromarty from April to October, inspired by the life and works of the 19th century geologist, folklorist and social justice campaigner
- In March the distinctive story of Easterhouse will be shared in Mining seams and drawing wells: a living archive for Easterhouse, led by Glasgow East Arts Company with local residents
- A Yarn Worth Spinning led by The Great Tapestry of Scotland will tell the story of the history and culture of textiles in the Scottish Borders from April to June, including an exhibition and fashion show
- A cross generational project led by Catherine Wheels Theatre Company, The Phone Box – East Linton voices shared down the line, will take place in August with a rich soundscape of stories, memories and music.
In addition to the directly funded programme of events, we will work with the widest range of partners to showcase and promote the full gamut of events and activities that celebrate Scotland’s many and diverse Stories across 2022.
From the wider programme of Burns events in January, including National Trust for Scotland’s Burns Big Night In on 22 January, to the 75th Anniversary of our World Festival City to wonderful stories from our National Theatre of Scotland, including Enough of Him, a remarkable story based on the life of one man who changed the course of history, and the ambitious programme coming to Scotland as part of UNBOXED, a UK wide celebration of creativity and innovation. Scotland's Year of Stories 2022 will be a year in which stories are shared and created on a huge scale.
2022 is the year we celebrate Scotland’s Year of Stories. Storytelling and celebrating our unique oral history tradition has never been more important as we continue to respond to the impacts of the pandemic.
We must ensure our Scotland’s stories are preserved and celebrated. 2022 will have something for everyone from some of the biggest cultural events of the year taking place at the Edinburgh festivals, to small community festivals in our towns and villages.
I’m looking forward to celebrating the very best in Scottish storytelling talent throughout 2022 - which will be absolutely vital to our continued culture recovery.
Scotland’s Year of Stories, and this exciting new events programme, offers an incredible platform to showcase the many sides of Scotland’s distinct, vibrant and diverse culture.
We are inviting the world to delve into the wonderful experiences our stories create. From icons of literature to local tales, the year encourages visitors and locals to experience a range of voices, take part in events and explore the places, people and cultures connected to all forms of our stories, past and present.
And it’s important to shout about Scotland’s new and untold stories. Year of Stories 2022 will shine a light on emerging, fresh and forward-looking talent and highlight the innovators that break boundaries across all forms of storytelling.
As our valuable tourism and events industry continues to rebuild following the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year heralds an exciting new chapter while also providing quality opportunities for artists, creatives and audiences.
It is an honour to be involved with Scotland’s Year of Stories.
I know first-hand the impact our nation’s stories have on the world and to have a full year dedicated to sharing them from all corners of Scotland, is incredible.
I am really excited to see the year unfold and all these events take place. It’s so important that we share how Scotland’s stories, in all their forms, make our country so special.
Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022 will begin on 1 January 2022 and run until 31 December 2022. Many more partner events celebrating the theme will be joining the programme over the forthcoming months, and you can find further details of the supported event programme below.
Join the conversation online using #YS2022 and #TalesOfScotland and for more information and inspiration see visitscotland.com/year-of-stories
How can businesses get involved
The Year of Stories 2022 provides businesses and organisations with many opportunities to engage and inspire locals and visitors to discover, celebrate and share their own stories of Scotland.
Take a look at our Year of Stories 2022 marketing toolkit to find out more about what's in store and how you can maximise the opportunity. We've included our top tips for engaging with the Themed Year, logo download, research and insights, and free imagery to download.
Hear from our Themed Years team in our industry webinar recording, where you can find out more about the key strands of this year's activity, how to make the most of Scotland's film and literary connections and an overview of the new Year of Stories 2022 Insights Paper.
Year of Stories 2022 funded events
Please note, all event plans remain in development and all dates are subject to change
Once Upon a Time in South Ayrshire
January – December 2022
Lead event organiser: South Ayrshire Council
Venue and region: South Ayrshire
Once Upon a Time in South Ayrshire, as part of the Year of Stories 2022, has a programme of events with something for everyone. The story will start in January and continue throughout 2022, chapter by chapter where audiences can enjoy a variety of events, exhibitions and experiences across South Ayrshire.
Celtic Connections presents ‘Whisper the Song’
20 Jan – 6 Feb 2022
Lead event organiser: Celtic Connections
Venue: Tramway; Old Fruitmarket; Mitchell Theatre, The Mitchell Library, Glasgow
Region: City of Glasgow
Celtic Connections presents ‘Whisper the Song’, a series of five newly commissioned events celebrating Scotland's rich tradition of stories, interwoven with music, song and film - focusing on the relevance of stories for those for whom Scotland is a new Homeland, Tales of the Gaels, the impact of our people across the world, Stories to Save our World and a celebration to mark 550 years since Shetland became part of Scotland.
Spectra – Scotland’s Festival of Light
10 – 13 February 2022
Lead event organiser: Produced by Curated Place, in partnership with Aberdeen City Council
Venue: Across central Aberdeen
Region: Aberdeen City
In February 2022 Aberdeen’s Spectra Festival returns, celebrating the humour, seriousness and sheer gallus of Scotland’s storytellers. ‘Writ Large’ will form a key part of the 2022 festival programme and will beam some of the country’s finest contemporary storytellers’ prose and poetry in large scale projections and neons alongside a programme of live events and spectacular visual celebrations, which will transform Aberdeen city centre.
Stories like starting points
7 – 13 March 2022 (online only on the 7 and 8)
Lead organiser: StAnza, Scotland's International Poetry Festival
Venue: St Andrews, various venues
Region: Fife
StAnza 2022 will explore the role of stories in poetry. This will involve poets from across Scotland in their international context, and a wide-ranging approach to the festival focus including narrative poets, prose poetry, re-writings, reportage, process / chance narratives, myth / epic, and indeed poets who contest the power of those stories we conventionally tell, or who experiment with it. An exciting new initiative for young, emerging poets, Scotland’s Young Makars, will also be delivered as part of the programme.
Seanchas – The Year of Storytelling
April – December 2022
Lead event organiser: An Lanntair
Venue: Lewis and Harris
Region: Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Seanchas – the Gaelic word meaning conversation, lore, oral tradition, storytelling, saga and anecdote. A series of events, films and special commissions presented by Stornoway’s An Lanntair celebrating tales from the Hebrides both real and imagined, modern and ancient.
Of Scotland’s Soils and Soul: Scotland’s voices, telling Scotland’s stories, through the world of plants
May – September 2022
Lead event organiser: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Venue: The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh; Benmore Botanic Garden, Argyll and Bute; Logan Botanic Garden, Dumfries and Galloway; Dawyck Botanic Garden, Scottish Borders
Region: City of Edinburgh, Argyll & Bute, Dumfries & Galloway, Scottish Borders
Journey into a multi-sensory celebration of stories past, present, and future inspired by Scotland’s rich and diverse plant life. From the rushes of Sunset Song, the real and imagined plants in Harry Potter, to the peatlands that cover a fifth of Scotland experience them and many others through performance, music, and storytelling in the beautiful settings of our four renowned Botanical Gardens.
Figures of Speech
May – December 2022
Lead event organiser: Scottish Storytelling Centre & Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust
Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh
Region: City of Edinburgh
Prominent and emerging figures in Scotland’s cultural landscape will respond to our iconic stories, imagining them afresh through creative eyes. Explore the impact of these great stories through film, music, poetry, storytelling and more, with the creative responses sparking new dialogues and directions, celebrating Scotland’s literature and challenging its boundaries, exploring who we are as a modern literary nation.
Perth and Kinross' Year of Stories, including Wire Women
June – September 2022
Lead event organiser: Perth and Kinross Council
Venue & Region: Perth and Kinross
Throughout the year, community groups, creatives and cultural organisations will come together to tell the stories of women from across Perth and Kinross, all connected through objects in collections held by Perth’s new City Hall museum. These amazing stories, from the Jacobites to modern day, will conclude in an outdoor exhibition trail across Perth featuring fantastic life size ‘Wire Women’, each will have a plaque in English and Gaelic telling the story of the woman it represents.
Borders Book Festival
16 – 19 June 2022
Lead event organiser: Borders Book Festival
Venue: Harmony House & Gardens, Melrose
Region: Scottish Borders
Stories are at the core of our lives. We all live an autobiography, we grapple each day with the realities of non-fiction and we dream in novels. The Borders Book Festival lies at the core of storytelling in the Borders and in 2022 returns to the beautiful Harmony House & Gardens in Melrose. The festival is a well loved annual celebration of Scotland’s stories and this year will present a special programme for the Year of Scotland’s Stories 2022, with themes ranging from Sir Walter Scott to the Great Tapestry of Scotland.
Dundee Summer (Bash) Street Festival
14 – 24 July 2022
Lead event organiser: Dundee City Council
Venue & Region: Dundee City
Dundee Summer (Bash) Street Festival will leave no-one in doubt that Dundee is the home of comics, celebrating our characters, stories, history and upcoming talent. Dundee will proudly proclaim the city to be Beanotown, with a pop-up comic museum, workshops, talks, film screenings, street fun, marble runs and world record attempts.
An Tinne
4 – 6 August 2022 (TBC)
Lead event organiser: SEALL
Venue: Skye - Raasay Hall, Sabhal Mor Ostaig, Dunvegan Hall
Region: Highland
Led by SEALL and Skye Gaelic singer Anne Martin, An Tinne (The Link) links a collection of songs, stories and objects across the centuries between Scotland and Australia. The connection is a pot hook which moved to Australia with a family forced from their homes during the Highland Clearances and which is the focus of an unbreakable link between people, land and language.
Edinburgh International Book Festival: Scotland’s Stories Now
13 – 19 August 2022
Lead event organiser: Edinburgh International Book Festival
Venue: Edinburgh, and various venues around Scotland
Region: City of Edinburgh
In 2022, Edinburgh International Book Festival will deliver a mass participatory event: ‘Scotland’s Stories Now’, which sees people of all ages and from all backgrounds creating and telling stories about Scotland today – proving that everyone has a story to tell. Stories will be gathered from communities throughout 2022, and will be shared in a flagship event series during the 2022 Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Wigtown Book Festival
23 September – 2 October 2022 (Wigtown Book Festival) with year-round events at other times
Lead event organiser: Wigtown Festival Company
Venue: Wigtown
Region: Dumfries and Galloway
Scotland’s National Book Town will be presenting an enhanced year-round event programme for Year of Stories. Highlights during Wigtown Book Festival will include two original commissions, ‘Into the Nicht’, an immersive Dark Skies tour that finds inspiration from the stories in our unspoilt skies, and ‘Walter in Wonderland’, a whirlwind theatrical tour through the history of the nation’s literature.
Findhorn Bay Festival 2022
28 September – 2 October
Lead event organiser: Findhorn Bay Arts
Venue & Region: Moray
The 4th Findhorn Bay Festival will offer a journey of exploration and discovery for Scotland’s Year of Stories, offering glimpses into the past and hopes for the future, experiences of nature, culture and adventure. From 28 September to 2 October 2022, communities in Moray will have a unique chance to celebrate and appreciate our region’s stories, heritage, landscape and people.
Map of Stories: Voicing Scotland's Landscapes - Film Ceilidhs
October 2022
Lead event organiser: Transgressive North (in partnership with the Scottish International Storytelling Festival)
Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre (Edinburgh) and regional partners across Scotland
Region: Edinburgh, others TBC
The Map of Stories ‘film ceilidhs’ will celebrate the most iconic voices – past and present - from Scotland’s oral storytelling traditions, whilst drawing upon the magic of cinema to invoke the places and landscapes from which they emerge.
Tales from the Castle
October/November 2022
Lead event organiser: Historic Environment Scotland
Venue: Stirling Castle
Region: Stirling
Experience Stirling Castle as you've never seen it before. HES are opening the gates to Scotland’s extraordinary stories at Stirling Castle after hours next autumn. Follow the storytelling trail through ancient archways, rich courtyards and glorious halls to unlock iconic tales and hidden truths in the wake of sunset. Experience storytelling through language and time on a unique journey from past to present and the many amazing tales connected to this iconic site.
Northern Stories Festival 2022
Autumn 2022 (dates TBC)
Lead event organiser: Lyth Arts Centre
Venue: Across Caithness
Region: Highland
Northern Stories Festival 2022 is a spectacular celebration of the stories of Far North Scotland. From the Orkneyinga Saga to Neil Gunn, the festival brings to life the often-forgotten tales of Scotland's rugged Northern coast. It will celebrate our ancient Nordic connections and our close ties to Canada with a line-up of best-selling travel and nature writers alongside new Northern commissions.
Scotland's Stories – Community Campfires
April – November 2022
Lead event organiser: Scottish Book Trust
Venue & Region: TBC
Join us to listen to the voices of people and communities across the country. In Scotland's Year of Stories, Scottish Book Trust will showcase people's tales from their own lives, celebrating the memories, experiences and aspirations that show us where we came from, that make us who we are and that tell us where we are going next. Storytelling residencies will be delivered at communities across the country, supported by Luke Winter’s Story Wagon, and culminating in a special event, ‘Scotland’s Stories – true tales from the people of Scotland’, at Book Week Scotland.
Songs from the Last Page
March – October 2022
Lead event organiser: Chamber Music Scotland
Venue: At book festivals, libraries, and community spaces in locations across Scotland
Region: TBC
Songs from the Last Page creates new songs from the last lines of great fiction: turning endings into beginnings! The year-long project celebrates some of Scotland’s most loved and talented storytellers – with song-writing workshops and live performances all over the country during Scotland’s Year of Stories.
Yoyo and the Little Auk – The RSNO’s Early-Years Concert
Dates TBC
Lead event organiser: Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO)
Venue: Live events at festivals across Scotland with online engagement opportunities
Region: TBC
Celebrate Scotland’s diverse cultures and landscapes with the world premiere of a concert and brand-new animated film with music by the RSNO. Join ‘Yoyo and the Little Auk’ under the bright stars of Inverkithkin as they prepare for the annual town ceilidh. With the help of Yoyo’s grandparents the pair make their party costumes, unveiling treasures from across the world. A true celebration Scotland’s diverse communities, culture and heritage, this project will see live-orchestral performances at four festivals across Scotland.
Edinburgh International Film Festival: Stories On Screen
Dates TBC
Lead event organiser: Edinburgh International Film Festival
Venue & Region: TBC
In their 75th anniversary year, Edinburgh International Film Festival will bring Scotland’s Stories On Screen to iconic and exciting places and spaces.
Please note all event plans remain in development and all dates and details are subject to change
A Yarn Worth Spinning
April to June 2022
Lead event organiser: Live Borders
Venue: The Great Tapestry of Scotland, High Street, Galashiels
Local Authority: Scottish Borders
‘A Yarn Worth Spinning’ tells the story of the history and culture of textiles in the Scottish Borders, including the local industry’s links to empire and colonialism and its current role in high fashion. This multi-layered story will be told through an innovative fashion show featuring designs by fresh talent from Heriot Watt University’s School of Textiles and Design in Galashiels. An exhibition will then display the fashion show garments, as well as winning clothing designs from a local school competition, and a creative video essay which narrates the rich heritage of textiles in the Scottish Borders.
Abriachan's Stories, Seanchaidh and some Stars
January to December 2022
Lead event organiser: Abriachan Forest Trust
Venue: Abriachan Forest, Abriachan
Local Authority: Highland
Abriachan Forest, situated in the hills above Loch Ness, will play host to a storytelling event each month of 2022, delivered by a mix of local storytellers, musicians, natural historians, geologists, astronomers and a fire dancer! Some events will take place round a cosy campfire, while others will see participants on the move, exploring the forest’s path network. From star-gazing in this dark skies site to churning butter on the way up to the shieling, all events will have audience participation and stories firmly at their heart.
Auld Toon Tales
May and June 2022
Lead event organiser: The Iris Arts Ayr
Venue: Ayr town centre, various locations
Local Authority: South Ayrshire
A promenade theatre performance, delivered by young people and based on the memories of older residents, celebrating the rich history of Ayr town centre, Harbourside and Industrial Quarter. This fun intergenerational project will bring to life legendary stories of smugglers and witches, prisoners and rag-and-bone men, as well as lesser-known stories of the men and women who worked in the town’s dairy, stamping works, carpet factory and fish market. The performance will combine site-specific live storytelling and pre-recorded audio narration.
Beyond 2020: Community Reflections
January to December 2022
Lead Event Organiser: East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure
Venues: Various venues across East Renfrewshire including community halls, libraries, and Eastwood Park Theatre
Local Authority: East Renfrewshire
This project will engage people from across the East Renfrewshire community to capture and share their own lived stories of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through volunteering in an Oral History project or taking part in a professional photographic exhibition and creative writing workshops, individuals will reconnect with others, participate in library, arts and heritage activities and leave a shared community legacy.
Caroline Phillips script (working title)
June 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Garidge Theatre
Venue: Garioch Heritage Centre, Loco Works Road, Inverurie
Local Authority: Aberdeenshire
The life of Scottish suffragette and journalist Caroline Phillips is the inspiration for a brand new theatre piece. Born in 1874 in Kintore, Aberdeenshire, Caroline was a true pioneer: honorary secretary of the Aberdeen branch of the Women's Social and Political Union, and a journalist at a time when there were only 66 female journalists in the UK. Written in Doric dialect and English by award-winning writer Alan Bissett, and performed by Garidge Theatre’s cast of young people, this will be a fabulous celebration of local history and language.
Cliabh An T-Shenachais - The Story Creel
Dates TBC: Red carpet premiere- Saturday 23 July 2022; Matinee screening: Monday 3 October 2022; Online: Tuesday 4 October 2022
Lead Event Organiser: South West Mull and Iona Development
Venues: (TBC) Fionnphort beach, Isle of Mull; Matinee screening: Bunessan Hall, Isle of Mull; and online
Local Authority: Argyll and Bute
A celebration of fishing and its importance to the remote communities of South West Mull and Iona. Tall tales and true stories from fishing families, past and present, will combine with sea poems and songs created by local children, in new film 'Cliabh An T-Shenachais – The Story Creel'. There are three ways to enjoy the film: catch the red carpet premiere on Fionnphort beach, complete with food, music and taxi boats; have tea, cake and a natter at the matinee screening; or watch online from the comfort of your own home.
Edinburgh Festival Carnival - 'Carnival Stories'
Community Carnivals: 18 June 2022; 25 June 2022; 3 July 2022; 9 July 2022
Edinburgh Festival Carnival: 17 July 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Edinburgh International Jazz and Blues Festival
Venue: Community Carnivals: Goodtrees Neighbourhood Centre, Edinburgh; Links Gardens, Edinburgh; Garden of Reflection, Tranent; Whale Arts Agency, Edinburgh;
Edinburgh Festival Carnival: Princes Street and Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh
Local Authority: City of Edinburgh
Edinburgh Festival Carnival will showcase the cultural heritage and migration stories of their community partners through the creation of new costumes and choreographed dances. Involving participants from four diverse ethnic communities – including those with Indian, Latin American and Caribbean heritage – these joyful and celebratory carnival stories will be performed at four local community parades and the annual city centre celebration.
Epic Art Challenge – Once Upon a Time
March to July 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Macrobert Arts Centre
Venue: Macrobert Arts Centre, University of Stirling, Stirling
Local Authority: Stirling
As part of their 50th anniversary celebrations, Macrobert Arts Centre will host a special edition of their annual Epic Art Challenge: in 2022 they will ask audiences to share their stories and memories of the Arts Centre and the Forth Valley area. Opportunities for local communities to get involved include live literature sessions held in association with Scottish Book Trust, creative storytelling workshops and meet the artist events. A final exhibition will showcase new and upcoming talent, celebrating the local area and the people within it. All activity, except the workshops, will also be made available online.
Fables at the Stables
July 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Cassiltoun Housing Association
Venue: Castlemilk Stables, Machrie Road, Glasgow and online
Local Authority: Glasgow City
The stories of Castlemilk’s multicultural community are to be captured in a new film. Stories will be told in creative ways – through storytelling, poems and visual art – and in the wealth of different languages spoken by those who call the area home. The film’s premiere will take place in the courtyard of Castlemilk Stables, a 17th Century stables block, and will be accompanied by a series of creative writing workshops for children, performances by a professional storyteller, and an exhibition of postcards which share local people’s stories. An online version of the event, featuring the film and a creative writing workshop, will be offered for those who can’t attend in person.
Family Encounters – New Stories Strand
Family Encounters will take place on 7 May 2022 as part of the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival.
Lead Event Organiser: Imaginate
Venue: National Museum of Scotland, Chamber Street, Edinburgh
Local Authority: City of Edinburgh
A unique strand – New Stories – will feature as part of Family Encounters, a free theatre and dance extravaganza for children and families at the National Museum of Scotland. Two or three emerging artists or companies will deliver new, site-specific performances for children, telling fresh stories in exciting and innovative ways. Under-represented voices and non-traditional formats will be harnessed to create relevant and inclusive work that will surprise and delight young audiences in equal measure.
Fisherfolk Storytelling & Song
27 to 29 May 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Seaboard Memorial Hall Ltd
Venue: Seaboard Centre and other locations around Balintore
Local Authority: Highland
The Fisherfolk Festival, an annual weekend celebration of the history and heritage of the Ross-shire Seaboard Villages, will have a special storytelling focus in 2022. Traditional Scottish singers and storytellers will tell tales in English, Scots and Gaelic, exploring the area’s rich Pictish and Viking heritage, as well as its fishing trade. A variety of concerts, workshops, and minibus and boat storytelling trips will take place in and around Balintore.
Gossip from the Graveyard II: Talking Heads
September or October 2022
Lead Event Organiser: The Whithorn Trust
Venue: Wigtown Book Festival, North Main Street, Wigtown and online
Local Authority: Dumfries and Galloway
In a creative writing competition, the public will be challenged to imagine the stories of two real mediaeval people, reconstructed by scientists from Whithorn burials of the late Middle Ages: a priest with a cleft palate, and an unknown woman buried on a bed of shells. The words from winning entries will animate 3D films of these reconstructed talking heads - to be premiered at Wigtown Book Festival, in person and online.
Home Fae Home
March 2022
Lead Event Organiser: St Aloysius ESOL School
Venues: Performances will take place in Glasgow at the Ogilvie Centre, St Aloysius College and community venues
Local Authority: Glasgow City
‘Home Fae Home’ brings together refugees and asylum seekers studying ‘survival English’ at St Aloysius ESOL School with pupils from the neighbouring St Aloysius College to create a cross-cultural collaborative musical performance. The New Scots will contribute songs, poems and stories from their home countries while the pupils will research the ways Glasgow and Scotland are perceived by the outside world. Both groups’ contributions will be woven together into a script featuring dramatic scenes, storytelling and singing. The performance will tour community venues in Greater Glasgow.
If Our Trees Could Talk
Storytelling workshop for adults: 26 March 2022; Climate Cafe event: 15 April 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Cove Park
Venue: Storytelling workshop for adults: Cove Park, Helensburgh; Climate Cafe event: The Tower Digital Arts Centre, Helensburgh
Local Authority: Argyll and Bute
Digital audio artwork available online from 15 April 2022. In order to preserve Scotland’s temperate rainforests, it is important to listen to the stories of those who live and work in these unique environments. Cove Park will engage a storyteller to capture existing stories and craft new ones in response to this rare landscape. The resulting digital audio artwork will weave together stories from environmentalists, climate scientists, local communities and school children, and will be launched at a celebratory Climate Cafe event that includes a discussion group, guest speakers and the premiere of Cove Park’s Climate Beacons film.
If the islands could speak: Shetland's hidden stories
January to December 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Shetland Amenity Trust
Venue: Shetland Museum and Archives, Hay's Dock, Lerwick
Local Authority: Shetland Islands
Shetland Museum and Archives will explore the island’s stories through two themes: Overcoming Hardship and Very Superstitious. In Overcoming Hardship a series of podcasts/videos and gallery talks will explore stories of resilience from Shetland’s past, while new stories will be collected to create a permanent record of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on islanders. Very Superstitious will draw on Shetland’s rich and unusual folklore, bringing traditional tales alive for a younger generation through workshops, videos and the launch of a new annual storytelling competition.
John Muir's Stories of Survival
‘Surviving Childhood! Outdoor Escape Room’ will run 6 times between April and August 2022; ‘Glenkinchie Distillery and the story of John Muir’ will run 12 times between April and September 2022.
Lead Event Organiser: East Lothian Council
Venue: Both events start at John Muir's Birthplace, High Street, Dunbar
Local Authority: East Lothian
Two events celebrating John Muir, the Scottish founder of the modern conservationist movement. ‘Surviving Childhood! Outdoor Escape Room’ will kick off at John Muir’s Birthplace and take participants on a fun adventure around Dunbar. They will be tasked with uncovering secrets and solving puzzles about Muir’s wild boyhood escapades, gaining a fascinating insight into the formative years that shaped his passion for nature. ‘Glenkinchie Distillery and the story of John Muir’ is an enjoyable soirée of storytelling and drams that will immerse participants in the life and legacy of this remarkable man - starting at Muir’s childhood house (now a unique museum) and finishing at the nearby historic Dunbar Council Chamber.
Launch of the George Mackay Brown Trail in Stromness
Launch event: 12 April 2022; Guided walk: 16 April 2022; Trail leaflet for unguided walking available from: 18 April 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Orkney Arts Society
Venues: Launch event: Stromness Community Centre and Town Hall, Church Road, Stromness; Guided walk: Around Stromness
Local Authority: Orkney Islands
2021 is the centenary of the birth of George Mackay Brown – one of the great Scottish poets of the 20th century whose subject was Orkney, its people, legends and history. Now Stromness, Mackay Brown’s beloved hometown, is developing a walking trail in celebration of his life and work. Locals and visitors will be invited to navigate a literary landscape, taking in the coastal path, cultural institutions and the poet’s burial place overlooking Hoy Sound. A launch event will feature the opportunity to hear Mackay Brown’s poetry and prose read by local people in the authentic Orcadian accent.
Mining seams and drawing wells: a living archive for Easterhouse
Exhibition and launch event, March 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Glasgow East Arts Company
Venue: Platform, The Bridge, Westerhouse Road, Glasgow
Local Authority: Glasgow City
A new living archive will share the distinctive story of Easterhouse. Created by residents from local housing associations through a series of participative creative writing, archiving and arts workshops, the archive will be a space to collect stories old and new, and will trace the long tradition of resilience and resistance associated with the area. An exhibition of the archive will display archive material, poetry, writing and video, and a launch event will feature performances by professional storytellers, local writers and project participants.
Open Book's Stories Across Scotland
June to September 2022
Lead Events Organiser: Open Book Twelve community events:
Venues: Twelve community events - locations TBC; Gala event: location TBC
Local Authority: Multiple Areas
Inspired by Hannah Lavery’s poem 'Scotland You’re No Mine', 28 creative writing groups from Shetland to Stranraer will create new work about their experience of life in Scotland. These groups – who include LGBTQ+ and BAME participants, refugee women, the elderly and rurally isolated people – will produce work in English, Scots, Gaelic and Arabic. Their diverse stories and voices will be showcased in a pamphlet, and at live performances in twelve communities across Scotland, before a Gala event brings everyone together for a final celebration of their work.
Our Stories: Traditional Gaelic Storytelling
In-person events: January to March 2022 and also available online
Lead Event Organiser: Auchindrain Trust
Venue: Urras Achadh an Droighinn Martin’s House, Auchindrain Township, Inveraray and online
Local Authority: Argyll and Bute
Storytelling was a crucial element of the winter months in rural Scotland, when the harvest was safely in and people had time to gather and share traditional songs and stories, reinforcing culture, identity and friendships. Three storytelling sessions held at Auchindrain, the best-preserved example of a Scottish Highland farm township, will aim to recreate this tradition. Each session, delivered in Argyll Gaelic and English, will take place on a date significant to the old pre-Gregorian calendar. Although these sessions will have a small in-person audience, they will also be filmed and made available online.
Our Woodland Stories - Evanton Community Wood
March to December 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Evanton Wood Community Company
Venue: Evanton Wood, Dingwall
Local Authority: Highland
Evanton Community Wood will celebrate their 10th anniversary by involving their regular users and new visitors in creating, enjoying and being inspired by stories relating to the wood, the wider local area and participant's imaginations. Storytelling events will take place throughout the year exploring themes of midsummer, environmental champions, stories from other cultures, Samhain and midwinter. The programme will finish with a mini festival of storytelling, artwork and music.
Preserving and Celebrating Edinburgh's Deaf Heritage
August 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Deaf Action
Venue: Deaf Action, Albany Street, Edinburgh
Local Authority: City of Edinburgh
Deaf Action was the first formally constituted deaf organisation in the world and is now, sadly, the last remaining deaf centre in Scotland. As part of their new Deaf Festival, the unique centre will screen a series of new film clips that capture their relationship with the deaf community: from older members’ childhood memories to young people’s vision for the future. Screenings will be held in historically significant rooms around Deaf Action’s building, as well as online. All stories will be presented in British Sign Language, with captions and voiceover.
Rekindling the ceilidh: storytelling through the Scottish seasons
Four public events will be delivered between May and October 2022
Lead Event Organiser: The Three Hares Woodland CIC
Venue: The Three Hares Community Woodland, Auchendinny, Midlothian
Local Authority: Midlothian
This project will bring young people and the local community together to share traditional stories, and create new ones, inspired by their natural environment. A group of young people (aged 8 to 13) will create stories about the natural world during a series of outdoor storytelling sessions. They will then help to develop and participate in four public events tailored to the seasons, weaving together storytelling, crafts and nature exercises which mirror each season. Stories will also be recorded and made available digitally.
Scotland's Year of Stories Short Film Award and Tour
Glasgow Short Film Festival: 23 to 27 March 2022; Touring programme: April to December 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Glasgow Short Film Festival
Venues: various venues across Glasgow; Touring programme: various venues across Scotland
Local Authority: Glasgow City and multiple areas
The Festival’s popular Scottish competition will focus on innovative storytelling in 2022, showcasing the diversity of voices, landscapes and languages represented by Scotland's film talent and their works. During the Glasgow festival in March, an expanded programme of Scottish competition screenings will feature filmmaker Q&As and BSL interpretation, plus a series of free live and streamed discussions, and a programme of archive films, will explore aspects of Scottish cinematic storytelling. Following the festival, the competition films will be shared with audiences across Scotland at cinema and film society screenings.
Sgeulaichean Siarach
Two live storytelling performances: June 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Urras Coimhearsnachd Bhràdhagair agus Àrnoil
Venues: Grinneabhat, North Bragar, Isle of Lewis; Raebhat House, North Shawbost, Isle of Lewis
Local Authority: Eilean Siar
Sgeulaichean Siarach is a celebration of stories and myths associated with the west side of Lewis. Elders will pass on their rich cultural and linguistic heritage to local children during environmental walks to three local sites. The children will then create their own Gaelic language response to the traditional stories in creative workshops, bringing them into the modern age. The children's stories will be shared with the local community through two live performances. In addition, the project will be filmed and the resulting three films – one for each story – will be used as storytelling resources within the community and more widely.
Sharing Stories: Treasuring our Past, Inspiring our Future
February to July 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Highland Museum of Childhood Trust
Venue: Highland Museum of Childhood, The Old Station, Strathpeffer
Local Authority: Highland
A rich programme of events will offer local audiences of all generations the chance to connect and share their stories of growing up in the Highlands. Memories and tales of Highland childhood will be explored through a mix of informal story sharing sessions, events on creative writing and identity led by Barbara Henderson, author of 'Scottish by Inclination', and a children’s storytelling and craft workshop. The diverse stories captured through these events will go on to enrich the Highland Museum of Childhood’s displays for future audiences.
Short Sharp Stories – from a whisper to a cacophony
April to August 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Hospitalfield Trust
Venue: Arbroath Abbey or elsewhere within the town
Local Authority: Angus
As part of the wider Arbroath 2000+2 festival, the social, political and cultural histories of Arbroath Abbey, and the intertwined, complex story of the written word, will be celebrated. Taking these subjects as starting points, four writers – two established and two local and emerging – will be commissioned to write short stories, using the newly designed New Scriptorium as a writing studio. Readings of the new works will be hosted outdoors at the Abbey and made available online. In addition, the results of a series of schools’ picture book workshops, which use medieval illuminated manuscripts as inspiration, will be shared through public display of the books and online readings.
Silent Cinema: Telling Old Stories, Singing Songs
The Loves of Mary Queen of Scots, 17 March 2022; Cuppa Talk: Representations of Mary Queen of Scots, 17 March 2022; Telling Old Stories and Singing Songs Commission, 16 March 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Falkirk Community Trust
Venue: Hippodrome Festival of Silent Cinema, Hippodrome Cinema, Hope Street, Bo'ness
Local Authority: Falkirk
There will be three exciting new events at Scotland’s only festival of silent cinema: the world premiere of the new restoration of 'The Loves of Mary Queen of Scots' (unseen since the 1920s) with live narration from ‘Film Explainer’ Andy Cannon; a talk by Donald Smith, Director of the Scottish Storytelling Centre, on the cultural representations of Mary in film, novels and other media; and the live performance of a new commission from a Scottish artist responding to a curated selection of archive film that explores Scotland’s pride in its people and places.
Skylark Journeys
4 June 2022
Lead Event Organiser: The Skylark IX Recovery Trust
Venue: Scottish Maritime Museum, Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank, Castle Street, Dumbarton
Local Authority: West Dunbartonshire
The Skylark IX Dunkirk Little Ship, now housed in Dumbarton, has contributed so much to communities over her lifetime, from wartime service to Remembrance Day commemorations and pleasure cruises. Now her story is to be told through the creation of the ‘Skylark Tapestry’. Woven together with the little ship’s story will be Scotland’s wider maritime history and the personal stories of the tapestry makers. A celebratory event will launch the tapestry – it will include expert talks, a film sharing an oral history project, a storytelling performance by local people and an illustration workshop for young people.
Stories from the Kist
Stories from the Kist event: 7 May 2022; Learning from the Kist workshop: 7 May 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Venue: Both in-person events: Scottish Storytelling Centre, High Street, Edinburgh; In addition, Stories from the Kist will be broadcast live for a virtual audience
Local Authority: City of Edinburgh
Tobar an Dualchais/Kist o Riches, an online audio resource featuring over 7,000 stories from Scotland’s rich oral heritage, will provide inspiration for two live storytelling events. In ‘Stories from the Kist’ three professional storytellers will perform new versions of stories relating to Scotland’s people, places and nature in Scots and Doric, with a special focus on tales from Scottish Traveller communities. While ‘Learning from the Kist’, a storytelling workshop, will enable participants to develop their own technique through re-telling stories from the Kist.
Stories of our People, Place and Planet
Programme takes place from March to September 2022; Spring Open Day: 26 March 2022; Harvest Festival: 24 September 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Concrete Garden
Venue: The Concrete Garden or The Back Garden, Possilpark, Glasgow
Local Authority: Glasgow City
This year-long programme will capture and celebrate stories about Possilpark’s unique heritage and multicultural communities. Launching at Spring Open Day, storyteller and community artist Daniel Serridge will tell stories and riddles round the campfire. Over spring and summer, Daniel will work with local children and their families, and Possilpark’s Community Gardeners, plot holders and volunteers, to explore their stories in creative ways. The programme will climax at the Harvest Festival where participants can tell their own stories as part of the celebrations. The stories will also be shared in audio format on an open-source community map.
Story Ceilidh
Story Ceilidh event: 18 June 2022; Online launch of illustrated book and audio recordings of stories: 20 June 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Magic Torch Comics CIC
Venue: Beacon Arts Centre, Custom House Quay, Greenock
Local Authority: Inverclyde
This unique cross-cultural collaboration will bring together stories related to Inverclyde with the stories of New Scots families who have settled there, sharing traditional tales, ballads and poems in Arabic, Scots and Gaelic. Young people and families from Syria, Sudan and Afghanistan will be invited to take part in workshops to gather and retell these traditional stories – their creative outputs will be transformed into an illustrated book and performed at a celebratory ‘Story Ceilidh’ during Refugee Week.
Striking Herstories
The trail will launch in June 2022 (TBC)
Lead Event Organiser: Scottish Football Association Museum Trust
Venue: Scottish Football Museum, Hampden Park, Glasgow
Local Authority: Glasgow City
A brand-new trail at Europe’s first national football museum will shine a spotlight on the fascinating history of women’s football in Scotland. New artworks and text panels will bring to life the stories of iconic female footballers. Stories may include those of Ayrshire’s Rose Reilly, voted the world’s best female footballer in 1983, and Scotland's most prolific goal scorer, Julie Fleeting, who has over 100 goals to her name. By showcasing the tenacity and talent of these trailblazing women, this vital new trail will provide inspiration for future female players of the beautiful game.
Tales o' the Toon
June and July 2022
Lead Event Organiser: St Andrews Preservation Trust
Venue: St Andrews Heritage Museum & Garden, North Street, St Andrews
Local Authority: Fife
As part of their 40th birthday celebrations, St Andrews Heritage Museum & Garden teams up with St Andrews Play Club to present a new comedy exploring the town's history – taking in golf, the University and religion. This fun, historically inaccurate play will be performed live in the museum garden, with short sketches also available online. In addition, the museum will collaborate with The Byre Writers to host a 'Skills for Storytelling' workshop, followed by readings of new creative stories inspired by Fife folklore.
Tales of a Travelling Scotland
26 August 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Ando Glaso SCIO
Venue: Centre for Contemporary Art, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow
Local Authority: Glasgow City
This event, as part of the first Roma Cultural Festival, will bring together native Scottish Roma, Gypsy and Traveller communities with newly settled East-European Roma communities to celebrate their shared cultural heritage. A new commissioned programme of songs, music and storytelling will showcase the Roma community’s traditional ways of sharing and preserving their stories and history.
The Disappeared Village
Launch event: 19 February 2022; Exhibition: 19 February to 16 March 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Robert Gordon University
Venue: Launch event and exhibition: Elgin Library, Cooper Park, Elgin
Local Authority: Moray
The often-untold story of Culbin, a village on the Moray Firth which disappeared in the Great Sand Drift of 1694, will feature in a new live and digital exhibition. Over the years, myths and legends have shrouded Culbin in mystery. This exhibition will seek to uncover this mystery by exploring the environmental, maritime and coastal aspects of the village’s story, in addition to its history and heritage. A special launch event will include storytelling sessions, children’s creative activities and a talk on local history.
The Legend of Kinnoull Dragon
1 May 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Adventure Circus SCIO
Venue: Norrie Millar Walk, Perth
Local Authority: Perth and Kinross
Back in the 6th century, the slaying of the Kinnoull dragon was celebrated on 1 May with fire, marching, drums and bagpipes. Adventure Circus are going to revive this tradition by sharing the long-forgotten local legend with modern audiences at a spectacular new circus arts show presented at the foot of Kinnoull Hill. Puppetry, fire breathing, knife juggling and aerial acrobatics will animate the story, with the audience getting the chance to learn some of the (safer!) circus arts. Beyond the event, a QR code on a permanent sign will allow future visitors to Kinnoull Hill to access the show’s narration in-situ.
The Phone Box – East Linton voices shared down the line
Live performance and installation: August 2022; Available online from September 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Catherine Wheels Theatre Company
Venue: The Phone Box, High Street, East Linton
Local Authority: East Lothian
The recently refurbished red phone box which sits at the heart of East Linton will reverberate with a rich soundscape of stories, memories and music in August. This cross generational project will celebrate the village and its community, including the stories of those who have called East Linton home their whole lives and those who are newly settled. A live performance of the finished work will launch the month-long installation and a recording of the audio soundscape will be available online from September.
The Pink Triangle Podcast
Five pre-recorded podcasts will be released throughout February 2022; Two live events: 12 & 19 February 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Pink Saltire SCIO
Venue: Two live events: The Hive LGBT+ Centre, Whytescauseway, Kirkcaldy
Local Authority: Fife
Pink Saltire will deliver a new podcast series during LGBT History Month in February 2022, showcasing some of the untold stories of the diverse LGBTQ+ community in Scotland. Five pre-recorded episodes and two live storytelling events will share stories from the trans community, LGBTQ+ people who are over 50, and queer people of colour, with the intention of highlighting injustices and celebrating individuals who have overcome adversity to be their authentic selves.
Traditional Tales for Tiny People
Events will be held in Edinburgh and Glasgow on the first Sunday of the month in April, May, June, September, October and November 2022.
Lead Event Organiser: Live Music Now Scotland
Venue: Holy Cross Church, Quality Street, Davidson's Mains, Edinburgh; Partickhill Bowling and Community Club, Partickhill Road, Glasgow
Local Authority: Multiple areas
Early years children and families in Edinburgh and Glasgow will be treated to participatory storytelling and live music events, featuring some of Scotland's finest emerging talent. Edinburgh city children will be invited to engage with spoken word and instrumental music from the rich folk heritage of Orkney: stories of the land and sea passed down through myth and legend. Their Glasgow counterparts will hear traditional tales from the Western Isles that explore people and places, told in a combination of Gaelic, English and Scots.
Up the Middle Road: Crichton Stories of Recovery and Resilience
Two live performances: 24 & 25 June 2022; The performance on 25 June will be filmed and made available online.
Lead Event Organiser: The Crichton Trust
Venue: The Crichton, Bankhead Road, Dumfries
Local Authority: Dumfries and Galloway
Founded in 1838 as a mental asylum, the Crichton Royal Institution has recently been developed into a visitor attraction and leisure location. A dynamic storytelling and musical performance seeks to share lived experiences of mental health, resilience and recovery with the community, and in the place, where they happened. Powerful, authentic and inspiring stories from former patients and employees will form the basis for this compassionate outdoor performance, giving a voice to those who were once marginalised.
View Points: Sharing Stories through Art and Poetry
April to July 2022
Lead Event Organiser: Art in Healthcare
Venue: Four Scottish healthcare settings, TBC
Local Authority: Multiple areas
Art in Healthcare and the Scottish Poetry Library team up to treat the patients, staff and visitors at four healthcare venues to a series of accessible poetry events celebrating Scotland's nature and landscape. At each venue, a professional poet will deliver a programme of poems and stories inspired by nature – including a specially commissioned new poem – against the backdrop of a landscape artwork from the Art in Healthcare Collection. Participants will also get the chance to develop their own stories at mark-making workshops led by local artists. In total there will be twelve poetry events and six artist workshops, held across four venues.
Voices from the Garden (working title)
March to December 2022
Lead Event Organiser: House for an Art Lover
Venue: Studio Pavilion, House for an Art Lover, Dumbreck Road, Glasgow
Local Authority: Glasgow City
Throughout 2022 the gardens of Charles Rennie Macintosh’s House for an Art Lover will play host to a series of free public performance-art events which link the natural world with the Scottish heritage of oral culture. Twelve artists, from multiple Scottish geographies and language traditions, will each give a live performance incorporating storytelling or poetry, responding to the seasonal changes which take place in the garden and the wider area of Bellahouston and Ibrox. This exciting opportunity for audiences to engage with biological processes, ecological communities and local landscapes will also be live-streamed on a local radio station.
Weaving with words: the magic of Highland Storytelling at Hugh Miller's Birthplace Museum
Storytelling walks: April to October 2022; Online storytelling resources available from: April 2022
Lead Event Organiser: National Trust for Scotland
Venue: Storytelling walks: various locations around Cromarty
Local Authority: Highland
Self-taught geologist, folklorist and social justice campaigner – Hugh Miller was one of the great Scots of the 19th century. Taking inspiration from Miller’s life and work, a series of guided storytelling walks will focus on Cromarty’s links to slavery and colonialism, women’s lives in Cromarty during the Victorian era, and the town’s links to warfare and defence in the First and Second World Wars. In addition, Highland storyteller Lizzie McDougall will record three short stories based on Miller’s work. These will be shared online as inclusive storytelling resources for children and adults.
Young Writers, Young Voices - a celebration of youth writing in Scotland
19 May 2022
Lead Event Organiser: The Super Power Agency
Venue: Venue TBC, Edinburgh
Local Authority: City of Edinburgh
A special storytelling event to celebrate the writing of young people in Scotland, aged 8 to 18, who have recently worked with the Super Power Agency to develop stories, poems and plays on themes including reframing masculinity, anti-racism and well-being. This exciting new writing will be read by a mix of volunteers from the local community, acting, literary and art worlds, and there will an opportunity for the performers and audience to meet and mingle with the young writers and to buy their books.