The Fabulous Telling Tales

Telling Tales Children’s Storytelling Festival is re-emerging from the pre-Covid dust and will be taking place in Balingup over the weekend of the 6th and 7th July.

The two-day festival caters for children between the ages of four to fourteen, bringing storytelling to life through literature and the wonderful tradition of oral storytelling.

On Saturday the 6th the festival will run from 10am to 4pm. The town of Balingup will become a hub of venues, offering a mix of workshops, craft projects and storytelling.

A Pied Piper Parade is to be held on Saturday from 12.45 to 1.15pm and is an opportunity for all to dress up as your favourite storybook character and follow the Pied Piper and drummers as they wind their way from the Town Hall along the main street.

On Sunday the 7th the festival will run from 10am to 2pm with workshops and facepainting available.

Chrissy Maddison is the Balingup Arts & Culture Hub Chair and is part of the team which is behind the restaging of this wonderful event and she tells what the event has to offer, “The day starts at 8.30am in the registration hall for the festival-goers to register, get wrist bands or to buy tickets, the cost of the weekend is $20 per child, or $15 for one day, we have endeavoured to keep the cost as affordable as possible.

“There will be literacy workshops and creative writing sessions from a fantastic lineup of local and Western Australian children’s authors, with book sales and book signings by the authors too. Musicians and street performers roaming throughout the day, will provide fun entertainment as well as free facepainting.

“We have a fantastic line-up of local and Perth-based authors and illustrators ready to host workshops and read their books to children and families.

“In this year’s festival, we have also added some extra elements in the way the authors can present their story with poetry and photography workshops for older children, and the wonderful traditions of oral storytelling and puppetry to be presented to the children and families as performances with interactive workshops.

“We do encourage the parents and children to dress up for the weekend.

“Two pop-up spaces will provide some interactive artistic play. The first, a dress up room, ‘Into Wonderland’, which will be beautifully decorated with an array of costumes and props for people to dress up, walk the red carpet and capture in a photograph.

“The ‘Odd Sock Stories’ is a multi-faceted art project that will give children an opportunity to create their own sock puppet and then develop its character and create a story, becoming part of an art installation that will stay up for the duration of the festival.

“The town will be decorated and a Scavenger Hunt printed onto the programmes for children to explore and find hidden objects.

“On Saturday evening at 5.00pm ‘Jesse the Wind Wanderer’ will be performing an interactive oral story telling show in the main hall.

“There will be poetry workshops, music workshops and a book-decorating workshop, really there will be a lot of fun over the two days for the whole family.

“From previous years’ feedback, the families who attended the previous festivals just loved it, and still enthusiastically talk about the excitement and fun the festivals generated, and to all the new families that will attend the festival this year, I am sure they will love the festival we have now.”

To book there are a few options:

Book tickets via Humanitix link on the Telling Tales website. You will also need to download and print the Registration form available on the website.

Or, by downloading and printing the Registration form from the website and bringing it on the day, to purchase tickets at the Hall. By arriving at the Hall to fill out your form and purchase tickets, or by contacting the Visitor Centre.