The music of the pioneering Scottish musician Martyn Bennett flowed with many inspirations. In particular, his final album Grit saw him draw upon the ballads and stories of Scotland's Travellers, famously sampling Sheila Stewart’s version of Ewan MacColl’s The Moving On Song to incredible effect.

In this live event recorded as part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival we celebrated Martyn’s love of Traveller culture, whilst also exploring his wide use of world music through the Hindu Kali myths, in an evening with friends of Martyn’s and those still being inspired by his legacy today. Hosted by Gary West, with contributions from James MacDonald Reid, Gauri Raje and Jess Smith.

Recorded live from the Scottish Storytelling Centre on Thursday 30th Oct 2025.

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You can find out more about TRACS and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, which runs each October, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tracscotland.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sisf.org.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Queer Folks’ Tales is a hugely popular storytelling series in Scotland where queer storytellers from a diverse range of backgrounds, ages and cultures share stories of LGBTQ+ lives. In this episode we talk to Turan Ali, who hosts Queer Folks' Tales across Scotland, followed by a live story from Miss Bella Houston recorded in the Scottish Storytelling Centre during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024.

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You can find out more about TRACS, the Scottish Storytelling Centre and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tracscotland.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sisf.org.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Join us live from the Netherbow Theatre in the Scottish Storytelling Centre for another Open Hearth session of stories and music. Featuring storytellers ⁠Bob Mitchell⁠ and Kirsten Milliken and musician ⁠Claire White.

Recorded on Fri 24 Oct 2025 as part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival.

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You can find out more about TRACS and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, which runs each October, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tracscotland.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sisf.org.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Recorded during SISF 2025, we spoke with emerging storytellers Winter de Cock and Geoffrey van der Ven, who joined us from Belgium and The Netherlands respectively.

We talk about their storytelling journey so far and share some of their brilliant stories, recorded live in the Scottish Storytelling Centre on Sat 25 Oct 2025, as part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival.

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You can find out more about TRACS and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, which runs each October, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tracscotland.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sisf.org.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Join us live from the Netherbow Theatre in the Scottish Storytelling Centre for an Open Hearth session of stories and music. Featuring storytellers Beverley Bryant, Colin Urwin, Mimesis Heidi Dahlsveen and musician Marit Fält.

Recorded live on the opening night of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, Wed 22 Oct 2025.

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You can find out more about TRACS and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, which runs each October, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tracscotland.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sisf.org.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

We speak with the EHFM Culture Show and storyteller Ruth Kirkpatrick, discussing Ruth's storytelling journey and her SISF show The People of the Sea, with Colin Urwin, which was inspired by David Thomson's timeless book.

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You can find out more about TRACS and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, which runs each October, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tracscotland.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sisf.org.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

A conversation from March 2025 (World Storytelling Day!) with Ailsa Dixon and Tim Porteus, initially recorded for EHFM. We cover a whole range of topics, exploring what storytelling means to Ailsa and Tim and hearing about their ongoing projects around Scots language and storytelling for mental wellbeing. There are also a couple of short stories and some lovely pipe music from Fin Moore.

SISF 2025 begins on Wed 22 Oct!

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You can find out more about TRACS and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, which runs each October, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tracscotland.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sisf.org.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Join us live from the Netherbow Theatre in the Scottish Storytelling Centre for an Open Hearth session of stories and music. Featuring storytellers Peter Chand and Erin Farley, and musician Beth Malcolm. All hosted in the flow by Donald Smith.

Recorded live on the opening night of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2024.

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You can find out more about TRACS and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, which runs each October, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tracscotland.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sisf.org.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

We are joined in this episode by Storytelling Festival Director ⁠Donald Smith⁠, Chair of the Scottish Storytelling Forum ⁠Beverley Bryant⁠ and National Development Officer ⁠Joanne Urwin⁠. We chat about the storytelling scene in Scotland over the years and look back over 35 years of the Festival, whilst also getting excited about the future!

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If you are interested in getting involved in the Scottish Storytelling Forum there is more information ⁠here⁠.

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You can find out more about TRACS and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, which runs each October, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠tracscotland.org⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sisf.org.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Our episode today is a wide ranging conversation with three different storytellers working across two projects in the 2024 Scottish International Storytelling Festival, both using historical tales to explore connections between Scotland and India.

Niall Moorjani presents their new show Kanpur: 1857! on Sat 26 Oct whilst Kirsten Milliken and Neel Paul discuss Torn from the Same Cloth, which will be first performed on Sat 19 Oct.

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Tickets and information about both shows can be found in the links above.

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You can find out more about TRACS and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, which runs each October, at ⁠⁠⁠tracscotland.org⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sisf.org.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.