Settle Stories' sixth festival promises to be the best yet

Moved from the autumn to the spring, the festival will offer more than 50 events over three days, starting on Friday.

The inaugural event had just ten events.

"It will be more diverse than ever before," said Settle Stories events manager Charles Tyrer. "Everyone who is coming has an interesting story to tell."

The festival has moved away from traditional oral storytelling to encompass more music and events that demonstrate the power of the word.

Charles explained: "There are more political offerings - with a talk by David Babbs, founder of the campaign group 38 Degrees, The Litvinenko Project, the story of the Russian dissident told through the medium of tea, and the Constructive Narrative of Dr Anandi Ramamurthy.

"The festival has always been about offering something different. We are trying to push the boundaries in a subtle way.

Events start with Remembering Bill at The Folly, which will pay tribute to festival stalwart and journalist Bill Mitchell, who died in October and was an avid collector of stories. Settle Stories is in the midst of digitising more than 600 of his interviews.

"Even though Bill Mitchell isn’t with us telling stories this year, we wanted to make sure that our audiences could still feel his presence," said Settle Stories director Sita Brand.

Also, on Friday, Victoria Hall will host Dave Tong with tales of Terrible Tudors, stand-up comedian and ex-policeman Alfie Moore with his Naked Stun Show and live music from the Batty Moss Ceilidh Band.

Saturday's highlights include the premiere of Romance and Ragamuffins by former Emmerdale actress Ursula Holden Gill, an evening with master mythteller Martin Shaw and gypsy music from Barbarella's Bang Band, all taking place at Victoria Hall.

For families, Victoria Hall will offer the chance to take a magic carpet ride with Rachel Rose Reid and Kenya's Githanda Githea will bring the animal kingdom alive with African Beats,

There are also events at the Friends Meeting House, with Robin Hood waiting to welcome visitors into his merry band of outlaws, Geoff Bird will present Two Parts Mischief and there will be mayhem galore with Awful Aunties and Ugly Uncles.

On Sunday, Giggleswick School teacher Matthew Wilcock, winner of the Great Pottery Throw Down, will tell his story at Victoria Hall and his talk will be followed by The Magic Lantern Show, an exploration of optical entertainment from 1787 to the 1960s, and Down the Rabbit Hole, where Alice's older sister Lorina goes down the rabbit hole and meets some crazy characters.

Meanwhile Settle Library will host stories on the inspiration behind Charlotte Bronte's novels and the adventures of Jack and the Beanstalk, as told by Gary Cordingley.

Throughout the festival, there will be events taking place in the Market Place and visitors will be challenged to hunt the gold-hatted storytellers.

For a full list of events and ticket prices, visit settlestories.org.uk