Hotels near Scottish International Storytelling Festival

The Scottish International Storytelling Festival runs from 21 to 31 October 2026, its 37th edition, under the theme Bird and Beast. The hub is the Scottish Storytelling Centre at 43-45 High Street, where the Netherbow Theatre hosts the headline evening sessions, with partner events at the National Museum of Scotland, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Edinburgh Zoo. Tellers this year come from Scotland, Turkiye, Italy, Ireland, Canada and England.

This is the festival that gives autumn in Edinburgh its own pull rather than a leftover of August. Organised by Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland, the programme mixes performance, workshops, live music and a family strand that opens on 10 October for the school holidays. Tickets and the Festival Supporter Pass are sold through the official festival website, and more than 100 Go Local events run elsewhere in Scotland, from Shetland to Dumfries.

Pro Tip: Book Netherbow Theatre evening sessions the week the programme goes live. The room is small and the headline tellers sell out first. Daytime family events are far easier to walk into, even during the October school break.