A tour to the Scottish Borders

On the 28th and 29th of October 2013, soon after the ending of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, project partners and storytellers headed for a tour in the Scottish Borders, about 40Km south of Edinburgh.

The Borders' landscapes and the valley of the river Tweed are rich with stories, with the village of Earlston being the place where Thomas the Rhymer fell in love with the Fairy Queen, to mention one of the most popular Scottish legends.

The area was also a great source of inspiration for some well known Scottish authors such as Sir Walter Scott and James Hogg.

On Tuesday 29th we all attended the project conference "Seeing Stories - Interpreting Landscape Narrative", held at the picturesque location of Dryburgh Abbey Hotel, nearby Melrose.

Each partner presented its ideas for the development of the project activities in their countries, followed by discussions. The conference also included a tour of the surrounding area, with a view on the Eildon Hills, a stop at the village of Earlston and a visit to the mansion of Sir Walter Scott.

Earlston village - in the spot where Thomas the Rymer saw the Fairy Queen. On the right, storyteller Stewart McHardy (Scotland).

Storytellers George Macpherson (Scotland) and Regina Sommer (Germany).

Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott

Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2013 "Once Upon a Journey"

Storytelling festivals in all partners' countries will represent the main outcomes of the Seeing Stories project.

The Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2013 "Once Upon a Journey" was very honoured to showcase the newly started European cultural cooperation for the first time, hosting and actively engaging our partners from Portugal, Italy and Germany.

Held between Friday 18th - Sunday 27th of October 2013 and fully inspired by the Scottish tradition of the ceilidh and its sense of togetherness, the SISF is a 10 days celebration of live storytelling, oral traditions and cultural diversity, gathering every year a large number of Scottish and international storytellers and musicians.

Main venue is the Netherbow theatre at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in the Royal Mile, at the heart of Edinburgh's Old Town. Festival events always spread to many other venues in Edinburgh and Scotland and in the 2013 they included Edinburgh's iconic Calton Hill.

Our European partners had occasion to be involved in such lively atmosphere and festival audiences could enjoy storytelling performances from Italy, Germany and Portugal - being the SISF 2013 the very first one featuring Portuguese storytellers!

We look forward to take part in the storytelling festivals in Portugal, Italy and Germany, while we also start getting ready for the SISF 2014 "Once Upon a Place".

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For a retrospective look on the SISF 2013 programme:

http://www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk/festival/sisf13programme.pdf

For more info about storytelling festivals in Portugal, Italy and Germany please check Seeing Stories website.

"Open Hearth" - Scottish Storytelling Centre, Netherbow theatre



"Natural Journeys" - Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh