Music, Storytelling

Hearth Fire Sessions

with Beverley Bryant, Dougie Mackay, Linda Perttula & Esther Swift

(Thu 19 Mar: 7:30pm)

Join us the night before World Storytelling Day for the first Hearth Fire Session of 2026! An eclectic night of ancient myth, contemporary storytelling, post-folk music, and physical artistry, steeped in the traditions of Scottish storytelling. We evoke the warm atmosphere of peat-smoked hearthsides and ceilidh house revelry, presenting timeless motifs relevant to a discerning modern audience. Join host Dougie Mackay as he invites a different selection of Scotland’s finest storytellers, songwriters, musicians, and performing artists to each session, creating an innovative showcase of Scotland’s contemporary culture.

~~~~~

For our March session we celebrate the Spring equinox and World Storytelling Day (20 Mar) with guest storytellers Beverley Bryant, Linda Perttula and musician Esther Swift.

Beverley Bryant is a storyteller, celebrant and death educator, based in Fife but travelling widely sharing stories with all kinds of audiences. Beverley is Chair of the Scottish Storytelling Forum and is an active and enthusiastic champion of storytelling in Scotland. As well as her celebrant work Beverley regularly works in collaboration with Heather Yule as ‘Glamourie’, delivering bespoke programmes of storytelling with harp music for corporate events, tourism and education.

Dougie Mackay hails from the Scottish Highlands, from a lineage of natural storytellers. He is fascinated by the wild northern tales of Scotland, Scandinavia, Ireland and the Baltics, with a practice steeped in group-work facilitation and storytelling as a tool for development, connection and empowerment. He has been telling stories professionally for over 10 years and has developed successful long-form shows including Animate Lands and A Wolf Shall Devour the Sun. He co-curates and hosts Hearth Fire Sessions throughout the year.

Linda Perttula is an Edinburgh-based Finnish storyteller. Alongside, singer-songwriter Aino Elina she developed He Sits on the Rock of Joy for the Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2025, exploring Finnish folklore and the Kalevala. Linda also created the Giant’s Heart Storytelling School with storytellers Svend-Erik Engh and Alice Fernbank.

Esther Swift explores ritual, connection, isolation, and the natural world in her performance with pedal harp and voice. A prolific, boldly innovative harpist, composer and singer, Esther works across genres as diverse as classical chamber music and free improvisation, and writes for ensembles large and small. She has performed and collaborated internationally and has recently been commissioned by Celtic Connections and the Manchester Jazz Festival among many others. Esther's debut solo studio album Expectations of a Lifetime was released in June 2024.

• Storytelling
• £14.00
• 12 March 2026
• 120 minutes
• 19:30
• Scottish Storytelling Centre
• Netherbow Theatre
• 14+