On Saturday 20th June, the Eve of the Summer Solstice, our own, Shane Ibbs, has put together an exceptional group of twelve Storytellers, to tell stories at, ‘Wonderland’ Summer Solstice Festival, (aka ‘Into The Wild’ ) This years theme is all about Re-wilding. Human rewilding, animal rewilding, land rewilding, the stories will be suitable for all the family. There will be three scheduled storytelling sessions.
Session 1) 10.30-11.30am. An hour of Family Stories. With storytellers: Su Squire, Paul Jackson, Riikka Palonen, Chris Richardson, Lisa Schneidau as well as Shane.
Session 2) 12noon-1.30pm. Scottish Travellers, The Original Environmentalists! As part of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month, Shane will be interviewing storyteller Amy Douglas, about her apprenticeship with renowned Scottish Traveller and storyteller, Duncan Williamson. In particular Shane and Amy will be talking about the connection with so many of Duncan’s stories to a sense of place, the land and nature. It has been suggested that many of the Scottish travelling people, were in fact environmentalists and naturalists.
Session 3) 4-5pm. Another hour of Family Storytelling, with another group of wonderful storytellers around the same theme of Re-wilding.
With Storytellers: Eamonn Keenan, Justine De Mierre, Baden Prince, Dawn Ellis and Sarah Lloyd-Winder.
If you have ever been in the Storytelling Yurt at Into The Wild, then you know what to expect. Wonderful heartfelt Storytelling.
Our Festival Performers
"Now that the world is standing still, people are asking for stories" Achira.
Justine de Mierre
A passionate, energetic and inventive storyteller who delights in connecting playfully
Gerry Donlon
aka Bards Aloud. Stories comic, and stories quirky
Trevor Millum
a writer of… poetry for children and adults, short stories, a novel, books of local interest, education resources.
Deeptha Vivenkanand
India based storyteller who loves to tell stories about stories, strong women, and political satire.
Fabio Lisboa
Storytelling Trainer who has performed/taught in Brazil, Canada and the United Arab Emirates.
Bob Kanegis
A fortunate day spent on the trail with a park ranger who combined, poetry, puppets and folktales showed Bob the possibilities of the Storyteller's Way.
Irene Lofthouse
Irene uses words to inspire all ages, regularly appearing at arts/literature festivals and children's events; she's regularly booked by schools, museums, libraries, theatres, community groups, NHS, charities and more to facilitate bespoke sessions.
Maria Papanikolaou
The last 10 years I combine storytelling with educational programs for children, in Museums, Cultural Centers, Schools, Art places, etc. I love working with children. I have also published two books, a Greek Myth and a tale of my own.
Raine Geoghegan
Raine Geoghegan, MA, poet and prose writer of Romany, Irish and Welsh descent will share tales of the English Gypsies, Romanichals through poetry, monologue and song.
Antonio Rocha
Antonio has received several awards and grants, including the once in a lifetime Circle of Excellence Award. This award was presented to him in 2015 by the National Storytelling Network for his exceptional commitment and exemplary contributions to the art of storytelling.
Dawn Ellis
Dawn’s parents calmed her down with Grimm stories at bedtime and they stayed with her. She has been performing, one way and another, ever since.
Jan Williams
Her most popular books are An amazing storytelling cat and Essex folk stories for children.
Csenge Virág Zalka
She published several folktale collections, including Tales of Superhuman Powers: 55 traditional stories from around the world (McFarland, 2013), and Dancing on Blades: Rare and exquisite folktales from the Carpathian Mountains (Parkhurst Brothers, 2018)
Zouhair Khaznaoui
Zouhair has been sharing the magic of Hikayat since 2017 in the Clock Storytelling programme.
Theresa Kelleher
Theresa was born within the sound of Bow Bells to Irish parents. Out on the streets she was known as the ‘little Irish girl’, at home admonished for her cockney accent.
David Heathfield
He runs Creative and Engaging Storytelling for Teachers courses onlinehttps://davidheathfieldblog.wordpress.com/teacher-training/ and has worked online as a storyteller and storytelling teacher trainer internationally with the British Council, IATEFL and the Hands Up Project .