Storytale Festival

01/11/2026

This time last week Storytale Festival was in full swing!

The mid point of last Sunday saw island adventures, active poetry and snappy crafts...

🏝 Gita Ralleigh swept kids and their grown-ups off on an epic adventure where they got to start writing their own.

🏃‍♀️A huge amount of fun was had with Juli Frances Taylor in Active Poetry with brains and bodies getting a workout and we all loved it!

🎨 Author and illustrator Yasmeen Ismail encouraged the kids to get creative and MESSY in a brilliant story and craft session.

We loved the variety of our Sunday events and watching the kids (and many of the adults!) having so much fun!

29/10/2026

We had two brilliant illustrators involved in this year's festival, the first being Becca Horswill who we chose to illustrate our main festival hero image after our call out on Instagram. We were bowled over by the response and Becca's idea captured the spirit of the festival and included elements from so many of the events with a pirate ship, wild animals, spooky ghosts, forest adventure and myths and legends. And of course there was a nod or two to iconic Bristol sights and landmarks.

Here's a little bit about Becca:

Becca's an illustrator, designer and animator based in North Wales. Across her creative practice, she hopes to spark joy and wonder with her work. She tends to work digitally but dabbles in traditional mediums such as gouache, watercolour and collage.
She has a BA in Contemporary Performance and a MA in Animation from Manchester Metropolitan University.

Often with her border collie, Milo, by her side, she loves to take inspiration from nature and the walks they go on! Becca hopes to bring a little bit of magic and imagination into everything she makes.

She certainly brought magic and imagination to Storytale Festival this year, thank you, Becca! ✨

27/10/2026

Sunday morning at our festival was a wonderful mix of drama, crafting and storytelling.

🎭 Acting Out had the kids up and on their feet setting off on a pirate adventure and they produced an amazing performance in a short space of time.

📚 Cassandra Wye Storyteller took a captivated audience of kids and their grown-ups to the moon and back, plus there was a skunk puppet, swishing horses and maybe even a mention of a magical unicorn.

🎨 Colourful Minds had a packed room of creative kids and adults decorating cardboard cakes before Laura rounded off the session with a wonderful reading of Mikey Please's The Cafe at the Edge of the Wood, the book the session had been inspired by.

We loved the adventure, the creativity and the inspiration! ✨

25/10/2026

Thank you to everyone who has made these two days so special, from the authors, illustrators, creatives, booksellers and librarians who have taken part, to all of the children, teens and grown-ups who have joined us for workshops, activities and storytelling across the weekend all in a wonderful space at .

We've had such a busy day there wasn't a chance to share much of today's events, but we will over the coming week. But for now we want to say a big thank you to everyone for making it a success! ✨

25/10/2026

Despite the stormy weather, Saturday afternoon at Storytale Festival was filled with warmth, creativity, magical animal tales, a touch of supernatural horror and absolutely no tantrums (well, maybe just one or two...)

We enjoyed spellbinding storytelling from Marcus Fagon in Magical Animals: Tales From Africa and Europe, while Weronika Stelmach of Weaving Change led a creative session on characters and the impact of how the way they dress could invoke change.

Rea Malhotra Mukhtyar captivated an audience of youngsters with a session filled with colour, movement and emotions inspired by her book Don't Intrude On My Mood! And our final event of the day with middle grade author Moniza Hossain had a packed room discovering the components of a detective novel before they had the chance to come up with their own.

Today promises loads more brilliant events for all ages, plus our wonderful Story Fair with international storytelling, loads of creative activities, a story hunt featuring local authors, a cosy storytelling tent and more. Take a look on our website to see the line up and book.

One day down, one to go. We hope to see you today! 📚

https://www.storytalefestival.com/whats-on/3/

24/10/2026

Come to our Story Fair!

We have lots of activities, an international story screening, a storytelling tent and our book zone. Featured in our book zone, selling their fantastic books are:

Rebecca Bagley
Alex Morss
Will Hamilton-Davies
Lindsay Cole
Lucie Ebrey
Sarah Surgey
Kate Frost

Plus we have the LGBT Little Free Library and Gita Ralleigh's fabulous event Build Your Own Adventure will now be included within our Story Fair.

We look forward to seeing you there!

https://www.storytalefestival.com/whats-on/3/

24/10/2026

Just before lunch we journeyed to the Kingdom of Tigers with Felicity Yeoh in a musical storytelling extravaganza!

Katie Scorah donned her pirate hat and sailed the seven seas with a shipful of eager kids (and grown-ups!).

In Spooky Writing with Angela Kecojevic she thrilled the room with Pepper's Ghost illusion and got the whole room writing their own spooky stories.

The lunchtime slots were rounded off with YA author Luke Palmer's inspiring talk. Stories = Play. We couldn't agree more! 💖

We have another day of events for all ages tomorrow, so do head to our website to book your tickets. ✨

24/10/2026

What a wonderful and inspiring morning we've had!

✨ Youngsters were captivated by Laura Henry Allain MBE's storytelling of JoJo & Gran Gran.

✨ We discovered the world's most dangerous animals with Sam Hume - hippos, mosquitoes, great white sharks, lions and the humble freshwater snails.

✨ Lucy Stevens of Hope and Light Theatre Company got kids up and exploring through the forest.

✨ Duncan Beedie encouraged kids to draw his character Doug and entertained them with the story.

✨ Discovering family stories with Janeen Hayat was a fabulous and thoughtful way to head into a busy afternoon.

There's lots more still to come and tickets available if you'd like to join us!

23/10/2026

Who doesn't love an adventure story? Gita Ralleigh's The Voyage of Sam Singh will take kids on an epic adventure to a notorious prison on the Isle of Lost Voices, from which no one has ever escaped alive... And if you join us on Sunday at 1.30pm Gita will show kids how to develop characters, brainstorm settings and come up with obstacles to create their own exciting adventure stories!

Book your tickets below, it's aimed at 9-12 year olds but perfect for all creative kids!

A workshop with Gita Ralleigh to map out your own island adventure, using inspiration from her novel The Voyage of Sam Singh to develop characters, brainstorm settings and come up with obstacles to create an exciting adventure story.

23/10/2026

📚 Introducing our International Storyteller... Ivy who will be reading in Welsh: Genod Gwych a Merched Medrus, written by Medi Jones-Jackson, illustrated by Dylan Williams & Telor Gwyn, and published by Y Lolfa. 📚

Medi Jones-Jackson is an acclaimed Welsh children’s author and marketing professional. She is best known for writing inspirational, fact-filled books that celebrate prominent figures in Welsh history and culture. Medi has worked in the field of children's books and managing projects that promote reading.

Medi's story will be read in Welsh by Ivy and the film will be shown as part of our Sunday Story Fair. Head to our website to find out more and book. ✨