World Storytelling Day is a global celebration of the art of oral

storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural pr ...

. It is celebrated every year on the

March equinox The March equinox or northward equinox is the equinox on the Earth when the subsolar point appears to leave the Southern Hemisphere and cross the celestial equator, heading northward as seen from Earth. The March equinox is known as the ve ...

, on (or near) March 20. On World Storytelling Day, as many people as possible tell and listen to stories in as many

languages Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

and at as many places as possible, during the same day and night. Participants tell each other about their events in order to share stories and inspiration, to learn from each other and create international contacts. The significance in the event lies in the fact that it is the first global celebration of storytelling of its kind, and has been important in forging links between storytellers often working far apart from each other. It has also been significant in drawing public and media attention to storytelling as an art form.

Event History

World Storytelling Day has its roots in a national day for storytelling in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

, circa 1991-2. At that time, an event was organized for March 20 in Sweden called "Alla berättares dag" (All storytellers day). The Swedish national storytelling network passed out some time after, but the day stayed alive, celebrated around the country by different enthusiasts. In 1997, storytellers in Perth, Western

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

coordinated a five-week-long Celebration of Story, commemorating March 20 as the International Day of Oral Narrators. At the same time, in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

and other Latin American countries, March 20 was already celebrated as the National Day of Storytellers. When the Scandinavian storytelling web-network, Ratatosk, started around 2001, Scandinavian storytellers started talking, and in 2002, the event spread from Sweden to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

and

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

. In 2003, the idea spread to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

and other countries, and the event has become known internationally as World Storytelling Day. Starting around 2004, France participated with the event ''Jour Mondial du Conte''. World Storytelling Day 2005 had a grande finale on Sunday March 20. There were events from 25 countries on 5 continents, and 2006 saw the program grow further. 2007 was the first time a storytelling concert was held in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, Canada. In 2008 The Netherlands took part in World Storytelling Day with a big event called 'Vertellers in de Aanval' on March 20; three thousand kids were surprised by the sudden appearance of storytellers in their classrooms. In 2009, there were World Storytelling Day events in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Australia.

Themes

Tiger Story Time at the Library (17410800041)

Each year, many of the individual storytelling events that take place around the globe are linked by a common theme. Each year, the theme is identified by and agreed upon by storytellers from around the world using the WSD listserve and Facebook group. * 2004 - Birds * 2005 - Bridges * 2006 - The Moon * 2007 - The Wanderer * 2008 - Dreams * 2009 - Neighbours * 2010 - Light and Shadow * 2011 - Water * 2012 - Trees * 2013 - Fortune and Fate * 2014 - Monsters and Dragons * 2015 - Wishes * 2016 - Strong Women * 2017 - Transformation * 2018 - Wise Fools * 2019 - Myths, Legends, and Epics * 2020 - Voyages * 2021 - New Beginnings * 2022 - Lost and Found

External links

Official World Storytelling Day Facebook Group
Announcements, events listings, discussion.
World Storytelling Day 2007
- Archived open source audio recording in downloadable and streaming formats.
French Storytelling Day YouTube channel

French Storytelling Day MySpace page

German Storytelling Day site

Dutch Storytelling Day site
Art festivals Storytelling festivals March observances International observances International festivals

Event History

Themes

See also

External links