Storytale Festival to return to Bristol this October

After two years of being online only, Storytale Festival is delighted to return to in-person events in 2022. 

This October, Bristol can join in with Chapter 4 of Storytale, taking place from Friday 21 – Sunday 23 October. Fifteen events will take place over three days, from Alice in Wonderland inspired drama fun with Acting Out, to dreaming up your own fantastical creature with local author Katharine Orton, along with a sprinkling of spells, stars and adventure.

Accessible and affordable, with plenty of free events including inspiring storytelling and interactive craft sessions, everyone can enjoy the festival. 

Colourful Minds will open the festival on Friday 21 October with a creative story and craft event for pre-schoolers at The Bristol Beacon. Later that day there will be a drop in session in the Tobacco Factory’s snug, giving children the opportunity to design their own book cover with  the help of Curious Universe. 

Saturday 22 October is jam-packed with science-themed Curious Stories for Curious Children at the Clifton Suspension Bridge Visitor Centre, inspiring underwater adventure with YA author Lou Abercrombie at Stanfords, out-of-this-world planet making with Bristol illustrator Lauren Tobia, while children’s author Alex Cotter will encourage kids to create a spooky house story during a workshop filled with spine-tingling spookiness at Bookhaus.

Storytale will also host a couple of online events aimed at teens and adults. Kicking off on Friday evening at 8pm is Pathways Into Publishing with South West Young Publishers, for anyone interested in working in the industry, while on Sunday afternoon at 4pm, the fabulous performance poet and storyteller Megan Chapman will be conjuring up some spoken word wizardry via Zoom. 

Festival highlights will include writer and zoologist Justin Anderson entertaining kids and adults alike with his latest book Narwhal: The Artic Unicorn in an interactive event at Windmill Hill City Farm, Story Cube Adventures for the whole family at Bristol Central Library and finally, in conjunction with Bridges for Communities, author and humanitarian Elika Ansari will close the festival with Refugee Voices, a special evening event for adults and older teens featuring live music, a meal and a moving and eye-opening talk.

The full programme of events and further information can be found at www.storytalefestival.com