A musical twist in the tale for storytelling festival

A weekend of stories is under way with the start, last night, of the sixth Orkney Storytelling Festival.

For this year’s festival, the organisers have taken a slightly different approach, introducing song as well as stories into the mix.

Tom Muir of the Orcadian Story Trust explained: “Traditional songs are stories too. They tell of great historic events, love, loss, personal tragedy, passion and hope. “Last year, we started to see more songs appearing  among the open session; where people are encouraged to join in and share a story.

“One of last year’s audience members, Grace Banks, made such a good impression on us that we invited her back as one of our guest storytellers.

“She is a singer, musician and writer from Aberdeenshire, and, while she is here, she will be holding a workshop on songs and storytelling.

“As well as Grace, I am delighted to welcome Jess Smith, a great storyteller, singer and best-selling author. “Her books about her life on the road with her traveller family have captured the public imagination, as they celebrate the wonder of a child in the face of hardship and prejudice. “She will also share her songs with us, on this, her first visit to Orkney.

“This year, the stories will be mostly a mixture of traveller and traditional Scottish tales — although the two are obviously intertwined.

“We will also have a very special event on wartime stories and songs at Ness Battery, Stromness.

“This is not popular wartime songs, but songs about war and the stories that go with it, featuring Andy Hollinrake with local stories, including one from Harray by Jess.”

Also featuring in this year’s festival is Erin Farley from Edinburgh, who is a regular visitor to the islands, and one of the Orcadian Story Trust’s committee members.

She will be telling stories, while her partner, the award-winning bothy ballad singer, Scott Gardiner, will be sharing a few songs along the way as well.

Local storytellers, Fran Flett Hollinrake and Marita Lück, will also delight audiences with their tales, and Fran will  run a tour of St Magnus Cathedral’s graveyard.

Other events take place in Highland Park House, Beltane House, Papa Westray, Ness Battery, Stromness, The Sands Bar, Burray, Betty’s Reading Room, Rendall, and the Stromness Town Hall.

The festival runs until Sunday, October 25, and more information can be found at the Orkney Storytelling Festival website.