The Conference

What is the Conference?

The annual Federation for European Storytelling Conference is the biggest meeting of its kind, a unique and diverse gathering of storytelling professionals from all over Europe and beyond. Attended by representatives of national and regional storytelling groups, storytelling trainers, festival organisers, promoters, education specialists, storytelling professionals and funding experts, this is the European storytelling networking opportunity of the year.

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FEST Projects

  • People, Places and Stories project – Erasmus +

    PPS focuses on the capacity building of heritage communities as a socio-cultural space for creativity, learning, participation and inclusion.

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  • Carrying the Songs

    A story is told and recorded on Inis Mór, a small island off the West coast of Ireland. That story is retold, from person to person, travelling across Ireland and Europe through Scandinavia to Istanbul. Along the way, it is translated, processed by peoples’ own memories, experiences and cultures.

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  • Master’s course – Oral Storytelling as Artistic Research

    This is a pilot course on masterlevel arranged as a collaboration between The Federation for European Storytelling (FEST) and OsloMet. Oral storytelling as an art form is a growing field in the contemporary performing art scene. This course places emphasis on the student’s academic and artistic ability to reflect, discuss

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  • Summer Course: What Are You Talking About – Oral Storytelling in Contemporary Society

    What Are You Talking About - Oral Storytelling in Contemporary Society In this course, oral storytellers are invited to explore their repertoire of traditional folktales with a focus on racism, gender and hetero-normativity. Through hands-on exercises, the workshop supports the development of narrative and performing strategies to creatively overcome ethical

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  • Here Where I belong

    The natural landscapes of Europe are an important part of its cultural heritage. Observing the changes taking place in our natural landscapes allows us to study the interaction of past with future, as they reflect the passage of time and the development of new technologies and their effect on society.

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  • Fonkelvogel Fest

    Life is a Circle – Storycircles for elderly people

    Fonkelvogel organised 2 inspiration days about storycircles for elderly people, 18 volunteers, storytellers, retirees, people working with elderly people in community centres and elderly homes, attended. A Storycircle was set up with 12-14 people aged between 70 en 93 and two facilitators.

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FEST Forum

FEST Research

  • Building Storytelling Competences: A Competence Level Framework for Storytelling

    The competence level framework for storytelling is a breakdown of the competences from the main domains of Storytelling in 8 Colours.

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  • Storytelling in times of COVID-19

    Due to Corona the cultural & storytelling sector, where human gathering & interaction are inherent to its practice, is facing a major crisis. In the national strategies to fight the virus we were the first to be closed down and will be the last to start back up. The last

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  • A Competence Model for Oral Storytelling

    Competence Model for Oral Storytelling About the Research Toolbox Authors & Publishers Links & Downloads A competence model? A competence model is a set of competences that together define successful performance in a certain professional field. Although a competence model can form the basis for a training program, it is

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  • Applied storytelling in education

    A Survey report about the use of storytelling in teacher training and in education in Europe today. Through a survey we detected needs, opportunities and collect good practice. Our findings are made available the report Applied Storytelling in education.

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  • Fest Research

    Storytelling in Heritage Contexts

    Storytelling in Heritage Contexts About the Research Authors & Publishers Links & Downloads Heritage may have different interpretations and meanings to various people however, at its core it represents a thread that runs from the past to the present. It provides a sense of belonging and continuity through the continuing

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  • Storytellers in Europe: A progress report – Indepth interviews

    One of the main goals of the Federation for European Storytelling is to secure the professional development of storytellers in Europe. FEST pursues raising the quality of the storyteller in several ways: the analysis of training needs, the development of a curriculum for training, residencies and performance opportunities for young

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Online Symposium

The online symposium 'Professionalising the Storyteller' presents 4 years of research conducted by FEST and an international expert team on the subject of professional development and training to enhance the visibility and the recognition of storytelling as a performing art. Apart from presenting the outcomes of our work we welcome experts from different disciplines and education/training sectors working on related topics. This symposium will address the varied collaborative and individual working situations of contemporary oral storytellers.

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