Scottish Storytelling Festival 2026: What’s On in Edinburgh

The Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2026 opens in Edinburgh on Wednesday 21 October, bringing storytellers from Canada, England, Ireland, Türkiye, and Italy to the capital for 11 days of stories, music, and song.

Now in its 37th year, the festival runs until Saturday 31 October, with more than 200 events taking place across Edinburgh and Scotland.

Organised by TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland), this year’s programme takes Bird and Beast as its theme, exploring the natural world through traditional tales, folklore, and performance.

The main festival hub is the Scottish Storytelling Centre at 43–45 High Street on the Royal Mile. The venue is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2026, having opened in 2006 as the world’s first purpose-built centre for live storytelling.

Opening night begins at 6pm with Aderyn/Bird, a performance by Harebell Tellers’ Ailsa Dixon and Ffion Phillips that combines Welsh and Scots storytelling with bird mythology. The first Open Hearth session follows at 8pm in the Netherbow Theatre.

Festival Director Daniel Abercrombie said:

“Wi one week to go until the full festival kicks aff, we cannae wait to welcome audiences, storytellers and visiting guests to join in wi the story cèilidh.”

International storytellers to look out for

More than 20 visiting storytellers and musicians are taking part in this year’s festival, with performances drawing on traditions from several countries.

Among the highlights are:

• Shonaleigh, a storyteller in the Yiddish Drut’syla tradition, joins Turkish storytellers Nazlı Çevik Azazi and Roza Erdem for The Eye of the Monster on Thursday 22 October at 8.30pm. She also presents A Garment for the Moon on Saturday 24 October at 6.30pm.
• Jumana Moon and storyteller-musician Dawud Duncan retell Attar’s The Conference of the Birds, accompanied by Scottish traditional music, on Sunday 25 October at 6.30pm.
• Dawne McFarlane, former artistic director of the Toronto Storytelling Festival, performs Psyche and Eros with musicians Maryem Tollar and Sophia Grigoriadis on Monday 26 October at 8.30pm.
• Gráinne Holland and Sinéad O’Brien from Ireland feature in a three-part retelling of the Ossian cycle on Wednesday 28 October, with performances at 5pm, 6.45pm, and 8.30pm.

The visiting performers are a central part of the festival’s storytelling tradition, bringing different languages, musical styles, and cultural perspectives to Edinburgh.

New performances and storytelling circles

The 2026 programme includes 15 new pieces of work, ranging from Finnish farming traditions to Lithuanian folklore and tales of Scotland’s northern islands.

Finnish storyteller Riikka Palonen and musician Satu Lankinen present Give Me a Piece of Land and a Good Cow on Sunday 25 October at 4.30pm. Their performance draws on stories from Finland’s cow sheds and woodland pastures, accompanied by traditional herding songs. An earlier workshop introduces participants to kulning, a Nordic cattle-calling tradition.

Another new production, The Bird of Truth, takes place on Saturday 24 October at 8.30pm. Lithuanian storyteller Daiva Ivanauskaitė-Brown explores the history of book smugglers who risked their lives to preserve their language, accompanied by Edinburgh’s Sutartinės Lithuanian folk singers.

Closer to home, Sheep Stanes on Thursday 29 October at 8.30pm tells the story of North Ronaldsay’s unusual seaweed-eating sheep. Storyteller Ailsa Dixon is joined by fiddler Kirsty Harrison for a performance rooted in the island’s history.

The festival is also introducing a series of informal Circles, giving audiences and storytellers opportunities to meet and share stories.

Free, ticketed Morning Circles take place at 11am on six days between 22 and 30 October, hosted by storytellers including Dawne McFarlane, Donald Smith, and Orkney’s Tom Muir.

A Song Circle led by the North Atlantic Song Convention takes place at Edinburgh’s Waverley Bar on Thursday 22 October at 8pm. There’s also an open Story Circle on Saturday 24 October at 2pm, where participants can bring their own stories to share.

The festival ends with a Closing Circle on 31 October, inviting participants to reflect on the programme and discuss ideas for future events.

Family storytelling and BSL events

Families are also well catered for, with a programme that began on 10 October and continues throughout the main festival.

One of the main free events still to come is Family Storytelling Day at the National Museum of Scotland on Saturday 24 October, starting at 10.30am. The drop-in event gives children and families a chance to experience storytelling together.

Halloween brings another family highlight, with Morvern Graham’s Samhuinn storytelling session on Saturday 31 October, followed by a mask parade into Edinburgh’s Old Town.

Accessibility is part of the programme, with three Deaf-led events featuring storyteller Tania Allan. These include BSL Stories of Birds and Beasts on Tuesday 27 October, Deaf Storytelling in Scotland on Thursday 29 October, and a scary stories workshop on Halloween.

Six further performances have BSL interpretation, including the opening-night production Aderyn/Bird.

Visitors can find details of interpreted and Deaf-led performances through the official festival website.

Tickets, festival passes and getting there

The Scottish International Storytelling Festival runs from 21 to 31 October 2026, with the Scottish Storytelling Centre on the Royal Mile hosting many of the main performances.

Most evening performances at the Centre are listed at £15.25 for a full-price ticket, including the booking fee. Some events are free, although advance booking may still be required.

The £24 Festival Supporter Pass provides discounted entry to many performances at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, along with a 10% discount at the Centre’s bookshop and Haggis Box Café. It also includes an invitation to the festival’s opening reception on 21 October.

Tickets and programme information are available from the official Scottish International Storytelling Festival website, or by contacting the box office on 0131 556 9579.

The Scottish Storytelling Centre is at 43–45 High Street, within walking distance of Edinburgh Waverley station. Lothian’s number 35 bus also serves the area.

For an overview of the festival dates, location, and programme, see our Scottish International Storytelling Festival event listing.