The Scottish Storytelling Centre, the world's first purpose-built modern centre for live storytelling, is located on the High Street in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
's
Royal Mile,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. It was formally opened on 1 June 2006 by
Patricia Ferguson
Patricia Josephine Ferguson (born 24 September 1958, Glasgow) is a Scottish Labour Party politician who was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Maryhill constituency from 1999 until 2011 and for Glasgow Maryhill and Spring ...
MSP,
Minister for Culture
A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizat ...
in the
Scottish Executive. Donald Smith is Director of the Scottish Storytelling Centre, and himself a storyteller, playwright, novelist and performance poet.
The new building, designed by
Malcolm Fraser Architects, replaced the former Netherbow Arts Centre, which itself replaced the Moray-Knox Church, demolished in the 1960s. It incorporates
John Knox House.
It is also used as a venue during the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
In June 2016 the Centre celebrated its 10th anniversary, which coincided with a programme of events to mark the 20th anniversary of patron
George Mackay Brown
George Mackay Brown (17 October 1921 – 13 April 1996) was a Scottish poet, author and dramatist with a distinctly Orcadian character. He is widely regarded as one of the great Scottish poets of the 20th century.
Biography Early life and caree ...
's death.
In 2017, the centre was nominated for Best Performing Arts Venue in the
Sunday Herald
The ''Sunday Herald'' was a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published between 7 February 1999 and 2 September 2018. Originally a broadsheet, it was published in compact format from 20 November 2005. The paper was known for having combined a centre- ...
Culture Awards.
Festivals
The centre is home to two annual festivals:
Scottish International Storytelling Festival
Edinburgh Tradfest
References
External links
Scottish Storytelling Centre website
Buildings and structures completed in 2006
Buildings and structures in Edinburgh
Royal Mile
Arts in Scotland
{{Scotland-org-stub