FEST Conference SOLD OUT and 2024 Programme

We have been working with our partners - Adverse Camber (England); Village Storytelling Festival (Scotland); Armstrong Storytelling Trust (Northern Ireland) and Tamar Eluned Williams (representing a collective of Wales based artists) to curate an exciting, diverse and engaging programme and we can reveal who will be speaking, workshop themes and events across the week from 25-27 June in Glasgow.

As representatives from each corner of the UK we are hearing what our communities want to know more about and discuss. We asked for submissions for the programme from across Europe and we had some brilliant suggestions. We’ve tried to include diverse topics and themes but also allow space for people to bring their own topics to be discussed to in our Open Space events.

We have a packed programme. Here are some of themes we know will interest our community.

We have programmed provocations, talks and workshops around diversity and representation in storytelling and who gets to share their stories and where.  During the Conference we will be looking at gender in storytelling. Hungarian storyteller, Boglárka Klitsie-Szabad will be leading a session on Women Storytellers, Narratives of Women in the Traditional (rural) Culture and Norway’s Johan Einar Bjerkem will be sharing how they have been analysing gender roles in storytelling and the models they use. Plus Maria Jungas will also share some of her experiences and learnings on working cross artform and courage to break away from traditions.

As part of the FEST Conference this year we are really pleased to have British Indian storyteller Peter Chand join us in Glasgow. Peter is one of Europe’s most renowned storytellers, is a popular workshop leader, and has been one of the main programmers for England’s oldest storytelling festival, Festival at the Edge for the past 15 years. We’ve invited Peter to lead a provocation at this year’s FEST conference, entitled Who’s let into the dairy?, to help us explore the importance of widening access, asking which members of society are given spaces to tell their stories.

Irish storyteller, Leanne Bickerdike will deliver a workshop at FEST that explores how Irish folklore and mythology represents the queer and LGBTQIA+ community. The workshop aims to create a safe and inclusive space where people can explore their identities, share their experiences, and learn from one another through the art of storytelling in the Irish tradition.

We have programmed talks and workshops around digital technology and storytelling, storytelling and politics and performing in multiple languages at the same time, and does it work?

Leading up to the festival there will be two free online FORUM events where storytellers and artists can join and discuss ideas and connect before the conference online. Whether or not you are attending the Conference, you are welcome to be part of these online conversations. Storyteller Tamar Eluned Williams and theatre maker Naomi Doyle, supported by Adverse Camber, will lead two online discussions where storytellers and artists can meet, discuss their craft, share skills, and pool resources.

The two free online FORUM events are:

June 10 – 6-7.30pm - Storytelling for Early Years

June 17 – 6-7.30pm - Little Folk and Minority Languages

Spaces are limited. 

The full FEST Conference programme is available as a link below. 

These online events are supported by Arts Council of Wales.

More about the 4 Nations Partnership

The UK partners came together in 2022, with support of the 4 Nations International Fund (created by all four Arts Councils, to help organisations keep international links strong).

They are, The Village Storytelling Centre (Glasgow, Scotland), the Welsh storytelling community (represented by Tamar Eluned Williams), Armstrong Storytelling Trust (Northern Ireland) and Adverse Camber representing England. The 2022 partnership enabled this group from across the four nations to explore areas of shared interest including young storytellers, inclusivity, diversity, slow touring, and storytelling in minority languages.

The FEST Conference 2024 is happening alongside Village Stories Festival in Glasgow.