Based in, but not entirely confined to, Scottish Story Telling Centre on Edinburgh's Royal Mile, the festival takes place in roughly the last 10 days of October. Events, such as narrative ceilidh dances, also take place in nearby bars. The festival itself goes on tour around Scotland with dates and venues varying from year to year. The festival also runs workshops in schools in Edinburgh and the Lothians.
As one might imagine the festival is rammed with opportunities to hear stories from around the world. Weekdays the performances start late afternoon or early evening while on the weekends the action starts from lunchtime onwards. Sessions can be anything from three to eight hours long, though you're not committed to attending the whole thing. Sessions combine stories, music and talks on the theme of storytelling.
A particular favorite of the festival is the Meet the Storyteller event in which story tellers from various countries will give a talk on their country and the culture and customs connected to storytelling that they have there. The atmosphere is very informal and the storytellers are very happy to answer any questions and will usually do a bit of story telling as well.
Roughly in the middle of the festival is a national event, Tell A Story Day, organized through the Scottish Storytelling Centre, aimed at promoting storytelling by and for the general public. All across Scotland in all sorts of unexpected locations from schools to libraries to hospitals and gardens, are events aimed at inspiring, developing and perfecting the art of storytelling.
The festival draws heavily on its international aspect and appeal, with a slightly different focus each year. In 2010, the theme was "Eastern Routes," with storytellers from India, China, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan joining up with local Scottish talent. The theme for 2011 is "Island Odyssey: Scotland and Old Europe," drawing stories and story tellers from the from the ancient seaways that drew Europe together.