Elmswell to host the annual storytelling festival of East Anglia

The East Anglian Storytelling Festival is coming to Elmswell.

It is taking place from Friday to Sunday, June 14 to 16, at the Blackbourne Community Centre with stories and workshops throughout the three days.

Oral storytelling is a tradition as old as we are. Stories serve to teach, to warn, to touch the darkest souls, to leave breathless hopes, compassion and our moral compass.

There will be tales of betrayal, joy, lust, love, greed, kindness, death, joy, sorrow, redemption and revenge.

The daytime sessions will engage and entertain children, encouraging them to question, to think, but most of all to laugh and be creative.

In the evenings the stories turn more adult and tellers will fascinate and intrigue.

Special guest storytellers this year include Sef Townsend and Liz Weir, from Northern Ireland, who will be telling alongside local tellers from Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex.

There will also be “Story Rounds”, a chance for anyone to share a story, be they adults, children, professional or amateur.

Veronica Chambers, Chair of the East Anglian Fabulation, said: “We are really excited to be bringing the art of telling to a new area. Every year we try to attract new audiences and new storytellers to the festival. Having held successful festivals over the last few years I am really looking forward to bringing stories and storytellers to a brand new area.”

Gerry Donlon, programming committee member (Suffolk), added: “Fresh from receiving her MBE, I am looking forward to welcoming Liz Weir all the way from Northern Ireland. The line-up will showcase the best storytellers of the region with lots of story rounds for new tellers to tell us a tale or two. Last year the story rounds were very popular so we look forward to meeting new tellers in Elmswell this year.”

And Lisa McNulty, the secretary of the East Anglian Storytelling Fabulation, said it was the fifth year of the event which follows the 2018 version which was staged at Jimmy’s Farm, near Ipswich.

She said: “We will have workshops for beginners right through to professional tellers over the weekend and there will also be some music as well. We’re hoping to get more visitors this year and there will be all sorts of stories for people to listen to as there will be something for everyone with different styles of stories.”

It runs on Friday from 6pm to 11pm, Saturday 11am to 11pm and Sunday 10am to 8pm.

The full line-up will be announced on ​www.eastanglianstorytellingfestival.co.uk​ and the first tickets to go on sale are full weekend camping tickets which include all sessions.

Tickets are now available at https://www.ticketgun.com/events/east-anglian-storytelling-festival-1

For further information e-mail ​info@eastanglianstorytellingfestival.com