This summer - Whitley Bay will not only be a great place for sun, sea and sandcastles but will also be busting with storytelling! Join in 17 days of creative mayhem between 18th July – 2nd August 2015 as Under the Dome Festival pull out all the stops and celebrate art and culture in Whitley Bay. What’s happening?
- A new Folk festival
- A new Story Telling festival
- A repeat of last year’s Community Arts festival
- A new Arts and Craft exhibition
Find out more about the festival on their website.
tell us more about the wonderful events you can enjoy: Tale Spinning @ Jam Jar Cinema Date: Friday 17th July 2015 doors open at 7pm, film starts at 7:30pm Location: The Jam Jar Cinema Cost: £6:50/£5 Big Fish, a film in which many stories interlace, makes us realise how we need our stories to live together. This film is one of Tim Burton’s best and stars Ewan McGregor and Helena Bonham Carter. Released in 2003 and based on the 1998 novel, “Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions” by Daniel Wallace, it is a PG certificate, and its gentle and quirky humour will appeal to all generations of the family. Come and find Tale Spinning at the Jam Jar Cinema. You are welcome to join us for an after film discussion on the storytelling of Tim Burton lead by Liz Jolly. Tale Spinning Launch Event Date: Saturday 18th July 2015 1pm-5pm Date: Saturday 18th July 2015 7pm-10pm Date: Sunday 19th July 2015 10pm-1pm Location: The Station Master’s Garden Cost: Free Tale Spinning, Tyneside’s festival of storytelling, will start in a spin at the Station Master’s Garden . Our Station Master, Chris Cade, will be conducting the fun. After the unveiling of the storytelling chair, many tales will be spun by our friends from A Bit Crack . We will be awarding prizes to the young writers who have taken part in our short story competition, which has been organised by Friends of Brierdene and supported by Seven Stories - the National Centre for Children’s Books. Woven between tales will be spinning wheel demonstrations by our friends from Tynedale Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers and a tail making competition. Come and listen to a tale, make a tail and get into a spin. Plenty of fun for all the family. 
Tale Spinning - Stranded, Shipwrecks and Stories Date: Monday 20th July 2015 4pm-9:45pm Location: St Mary’s Light House Cost: £15 per person Gary Cordingley, one of our best local storytellers will be running a story making and drama workshop for families in the atmospheric surroundings of St Mary’s Lighthouse . As the tide comes in Gary will be using the environment to help families share and develop stories along the theme of strandings and shipwrecks. Are you a family of wanabee pirates? Or a family of potential explorers looking for that treasure island? Or even a family of sea creatures exploring the shipwrecks of the ocean floor? Let Gary help your family have an adventure you won’t forget - imagination is your only limitation. This workshop is aimed for families with children aged 10 and upwards and will expect all generations to join in. £15 includes not only the workshop, but food and a DVD that will record this fun event for an eternity. Don’t be late, the tide waits for nobody! 
Tale Spinning – Stephenson Railway Museum Date: Tuesday 21st July 2015 11am – 3pm Location: Stephenson Museum Cost: Free Tale Spinning arrives with a clatter and a “choo choo” at the Stephenson Railway Museum with Storyteller Chris Bostock . Chris will be in his carriage ready to depart with stories, on the hour and on the half hour. Come and share a journey and discover new destinations. Chris Bostock is legendary in story telling circles, with his larger than life style his stories come alive in an instant and continue to travel with you long after the performance. Don’t miss this train. Tale Spinning – Happy Hour with Bookhappy Date: Tuesday 21st July 2015 10am-11am or 11am-12pm Location: Whitley Bay Library Cost: £4 for first child and £2 for additional siblings Tale Spinning is really excited to be working with Bookhappy to bring you storytime fun for the under-5s. They will be telling tales, dancing, singing and playing games to bring stories to life! (Older siblings are welcome to attend, too.) Tale Spinning – A Cartoon History of Whitley Bay Date: Tuesday 21st July 2015 7:30pm Location: The Inflatable Dome Cost: £15 What is a recipe of good story? Something local, something funny, a bit of improv and even some poetry? Ian McMillan and Tony Husband are performing “A Cartoon History of Here” which not only gives us a good story but cartoons to go alongside. This will be a unique evening, the likes you will never have experienced before. Ian McMillan, described as "the Shirley Bassey of performance poetry" by the Times Educational Supplement joins and Tony Husband who has received the Pont Award from The Cartoon Art Trust for depicting the British Way of Life. Together they will bring Whitley Bay alive through wit, wisdom and a wicked pencil. Tale Spinning – Story Café Date: Wednesday 22nd July 2015 7:30pm Location: Olives at the Station Cost: £20 What goes better with stories than food? A three course story intertwined with a three course meal. We are looking forward to tasty stories and tantalising food. Our master storyteller Gary Cordingley knows how to whet your appetite with stories and Julie our host at Olives at the Station knows how to satisfy that appetite. A promise of a leisurely, amiable and thought provoking evening. Tale Spinning – Happy Hour with Bookhappy Date: Thursday 23rd July 2015 10am-11am or 11am-12pm Location: North Shields Library Cost: £4 for first child and £2 for additional siblings Tale Spinning is really excited to be working with Bookhappy to bring you storytime fun for the under-5s. They will be telling tales, dancing, singing and playing games to bring stories to life! (Older siblings are welcome to attend, too.) Tale Spinning – Happy Hour with Bookhappy Date: Thursday 23rd July 2015 2pm-3pm Location: The Inflatable Dome Cost: £4 for first child and £2 for additional siblings Tale Spinning is really excited to be working with Bookhappy to bring you storytime fun for the under-5s. They will be telling tales, dancing, singing and playing games to bring stories to life! (Older siblings are welcome to attend, too.) 
Tale Spinning – Northumberland Folk Tales Date: Thursday 23rd July 2015 7:30pm Location: The Inflatable Dome Cost: £10 Malcolm Green is a gifted storyteller with a deep love and wide knowledge of the natural world. He has walked hundreds of miles across Northumberland collecting stories for his book “Northumberland Folk Tales”. Come and spend an evening with mysterious fairy folk and other characters such as the Worm of Longwitton who guards a secret well . Accompanying these, there is the sound of human feet; saints seek refuge, ancient kings fight for land and salvation, and border folk pit themselves against one another with both wit and sword. A true Northumbrian evening with stories and music provided by Ruth Ball. 
Tale Spinning – Border Ballads Date: Friday 24th July 2015 7:30pm Location: Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade Watch House Cost: £10 We have invited the silver tongued, Stephe Harrop for our Tale Spinning Finale. Born in Sunderland, living in London, Stephe returns to the North East to share a sequence of stories inspired by traditional ballads of the lawless lands between Scotland and England. Cattle-thieves and cut-throats jostle queens, kings and courtiers, while the black corbie waits to feast on human flesh. Thrilling tales of love, revenge, high deeds and low cunning from the bad old days of the borders. The newly refurbished TVLB Watchhouse will complement the adventurous atmosphere that Stephe creates. A finale of high drama.
