This year Latvia was broadly represented at the annual Sagobygden Storytelling and Music Festival, which took place in Ljungby, Sweden, over four days from 13 to 16 June. The oldest still-running festival in the Nordic countries brought together storytelling enthusiasts for the 34th time. For years, it has been included as a must-attend annual event also for Latvian storytellers.
Once a year, on the weekend just before the summer solstice, Sagobygden – the Museum of Legends – offers a rich creative programme in Swedish and English filled with stories and music, workshops and activities for the whole family. Since its foundation in 1990, the festival has grown steadily to become one of the most anticipated events of the year, bringing together storytellers from all over the world. It has also been recognised by UNESCO since the Land of Legends was included in its Register of Good Safeguarding Practices.
Within the project “Storytelling. Nordic and Baltic Storytelling” several storytellers from the Nordic countries have visited Latvia through the years, gathering storytelling enthusiasts for masterclasses in remote regions of Latvia. Besides promoting storytelling, such workshops help to develop storytelling skills and offer other practical benefits. Using the project funding a Latvian artist – Rebeka Lukošus – was able to attend this year’s festival in Sweden and host a workshop. Rebeka is a children’s book illustrator, comic book author and one of the organisers of the zine and small publishers’ festival “Sābrs”.
Also, Rūta Ķergalve, Ina Celitāne, Agnese Lapsiņa, and other artists from Latvia attended the festival. Their workshops and performances gained a lot of local attention. The storytellers from Kuldīga region have a long-standing cooperation with the Museum of Legends and have visited the festival several times; this time supported by the Erasmus+ project.
Next year, the Storytelling Festival will take place from 12–15 June. To learn more about the festival click here.
On 11 and 12 March, under the project “Storytelling. Nordic Baltic Stories” a storytelling workshop for youngsters in Liepāja and Kuldīga was led by Swedish storyteller and storytelling teacher Jakob Elofsson.
Tine Winther, Head of the Museum of Legends, visited Daugavpils Museum of Regional Research and Art on April 22 and Bebru Primary School in Aizkraukle on April 23 gathering youngsters for the workshop “Can Words Shift the World?”.
