STORIES FOR ADULTS AND CHILDREN
Hastings Storytelling Festival 2026 will be back on Saturday 17th October until Sunday 25th October. We look forward to seeing you there!
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Famously diverse, progressive, immersive and inclusive storytelling for all ages
Hastings Storytelling Festival returns 17 to 25 October 2026
Hastings Storytelling Festival is an annual celebration of spoken word, performance, literature and community creativity. The festival brings world‑class storytellers, poets, theatre companies and family performers to Hastings and St Leonards, alongside extensive schools outreach and free community events.
Its programme spans children’s shows, adult storytelling, workshops, outdoor arts and inclusive participatory projects. The festival champions imagination, literacy, cultural diversity and intergenerational connection.
featuring:
Axel Scheffler
Saturday 24 October
2pm (doors open 1:30pm)
White Rock Theatre, TN34 1JX
​​​Patron of Hastings Storytelling Festival, Axel Scheffler returns to the White Rock Theatre with a special family event celebrating the world of The Gruffalo. Axel will read The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child and the brand‑new Gruffalo Granny, published in 2026...
Bev Lee Harling
Friday 23 & Saturday 24 October
7:30pm
Stables Theatre, TN34 3BD
As her father’s dementia progressed, Bev Lee Harling gathered tales from his vivid memories of working life in the family foundry in Elephant and Castle – cobbled yards, molten liquid and the smell of burnt metal she remembered from childhood...
