About us

Sagobygden’s Music- & Storytellingfestival

The oldest annually returning storytelling festival in the Nordic region

Every year since 1990, we have proudly offered this storytelling festival. Previously called “Ljungby Berättarfestival” (“The Storytelling Festival of Ljungby”), the festival now goes by the name of “Sagobygdens Musik- & Berättarfestival” (”Sagobygden’s Music and Storytelling Festival”). The change of name is meant to clearly signify that the festival events are spread all over the Land of Legends. Moreover, we also collaborate with the regional music institution Musik i Syd, with the ambition to combine the art of oral storytelling with music.

Our festival offers storytelling in many different forms – storytelling performances and concerts for both young and old, seminars, lectures, workshops and international exchanges. There are usually around 50-60 different events during the festival, with storytellers and musicians from both Sweden and abroad!

It was no coincidence that it all began in the town of Ljungby. This used to be the home of some of our most popular storytellers during the 17th century, and it was here that great parts of the Swedish oral storytelling tradition were documented. Today, the art of storytelling in Sweden flourishes more than ever. Stories are told in schools and hospitals, in enterprises and prisons, in study circles and at storytelling cafes.

World Storytelling Day

Did you know that an international event started in Sweden in 2001?
“Världsberättardagen – World Storytelling Day”

At the turn of the millennium in 2001, during a storytelling festival, the storytelling guru Ulf Ärnström had an idea of how to spread and enhance the art of oral storytelling. He believed that we needed to introduce something recurrent, such as a day when all the storytellers would tell stories under a common theme.

– We’ll think big right away, Ulf and his friends concluded.
– Let us call it World Storytelling Day!

So, the day was chosen, when the length of day equals that of night (that is: on the Vernal Equinox itself). The 20th of March* became the international day of storytelling.

2001 was when it started in Sweden, in 2002 it spread to the other Scandinavian countries, then followed Canada and France, and by 2005, 25 countries from all over the world had joined. Today, World Storytelling Day is well established, worldwide. The ambition is that during this day, as many people as possible throughout the world should go out and tell and listen to stories, in different places and in different contexts.

Every year, a common theme is chosen. This is done by modern means via Facebook. Over 13 000 storytellers follow the World Storytelling Day group, where storytellers from all over the world discuss and decide on each year’s theme, in a disciplined manner. Thanks to this day, the art of oral storytelling has been noticed by media, and an increased interest in our intangible cultural heritage has been seen.

About Oral Storytelling

Oral storytelling has always existed and yet, it is eternally new. It is ancient, but has been a trend in the Western world since the 1980’s. We do not know the age of the stories. An Egyptian story, documented 2000 years BCE, was told in Sweden during the 20th century.

In Sweden up until the 19th century, stories were told when people gathered during long, dark winter nights by the fireplace and during celebrations tied to the collective work. The stories were told as the spinning wheel would turn, and as the men would carve sticks for raking. Men and women told stories to each other and the children listened at times just like today, even though the contents of the stories were intended for the adult ear. And so has the tradition of oral storytelling lived on for ages, and in all cultures until this day.

During the 20th century, the tradition of oral storytelling was about to become obsolete in our part of the world. The live meeting of teller and audience was at first replaced with the written word, and later on, with a technological kind of storytelling – movies, television, radio and finally computers and the internet. However, during the 1980’s, a new movement started to grow in Europe and Northern America. One became aware that the most primordial form of culture was about to go extinct. Therefore, the art of storytelling was revived in different places throughout the Western world. Old stories were found and new were created. In the case of Sweden, the art of storytelling mainly arrived as the Storytelling Festival of Ljungby started in the year of 1990.

The art of storytelling continuously finds new ways. Word gets around of corporate storytelling, digital storytelling, storytelling for the purpose of healing, storytelling as an educational tool, and storytelling on stage. Storytelling competitions are arranged, and books are written on the art of storytelling. But most importantly, more and more people discover the fun, the excitement, the community, the adventure, the cries and the laughter of telling and listening to a story.