what stories are made of

The 19th Vancouver International Storytelling Festival

A festival to celebrate the many different kinds of stories people tell. There are so many genres and styles of oral-literature. This festival aspires to hold a listening space for all. From the first-person-personal to the mythic, from archetypical landscapes to the geographic realities of these Salish Territories.

Each story stands alone. The stories, when taken together, provide the warp and weft for a larger, emergent narrative tapestry.

On Friday, June 8, the festival will open with a gala event at the Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.

On Saturday, June 9, the free ELEMENTAL bike /bus tour will take participants to 5 different locations, experiencing 5 elements (air, earth, water, fire and metal). From a 7 foot storytelling kite launching hopes and wishes for the world in Strathcona’ s Crab Park to the False Creek Flats, where a handmade paper storybook set in ice will be unveiled…. from the Flats to the heights of the Mt. Pleasant Watershed and then the Fraserview slopes in South Vancouver; at each stop, kids and adults will have a chance to hear stories about crucial city decisions, involve themselves in their planning, and learn about the background of community engagement - whether it’s food policy, geographic and ecological history, day lighting old creeks, or municipal planning. The tour ends with a free reception on the grounds of Hycroft . There, individuals will have a taste of delicious goodies sourced from local urban farms and through Slow Food Vancouver.

Vancouver Society of Storytelling events appeal to their large adult following. Saturday evening, audiences can enjoy ‘Ghost Stories’ at Hycroft.

On Sunday June 10th there is family programming at the Native Education College from 11-1; a panel discussion about storytelling for social change at the Vancouver Public Library, and a closing gala at CBC Radio Studio 700.