Folktales and Music in the Park

A one-day celebration of performance storytelling and folk music! Find a perfect gentle escape on a summer’s day, where you’ll be transported into imaginary worlds… an enchanting programme of stories awaits you. Performances are well-crafted for grown-ups, but children age 7+ may enjoy them with adult supervision.

Swindon’s Forging Fantastical are inviting talented storytellers from across the UK to perform stories from diverse cultures and regions, including the British Isles, Nordic and Inuit lands, amongst others. Forging Fantastical is managed by local volunteers who organise a year-round programme of non-profit creative events, specialising in storytelling events for grown-ups.

A headline performance will be given by storyteller and multi-instrumentalist Paul Jackson. Paul has been a professional storyteller for thirty years, and has told around 55,000 stories, in many different locations in the UK and beyond. Paul has a collection of world instruments that he plays to colour and bring to life the stories he tells, which originate from the many corners of the world. His instruments include the African kora, American double chambered flute, drums, mouth harps, Tibetan singing bowls, Indian ektara and Australian didgeridoo.