Estonian storyteller Piret Päär participated in 46-hour storytelling marathon in Guadalajara

Estonian storyteller Piret Päär participated in the Guadalajara International Storytelling Marathon, which lasted 46 hours. Before the festival, she took part in the ANCESTOR creative residency, a European project where storytellers from nine countries created a shared storytelling programme. The festival is one of the most important international storytelling events in the world.

Estonian storyteller Piret Päär recently participated in a storytelling marathon held in Guadalajara, Spain, which lasted a continuous 46 hours. It is one of the world's most important international storytelling festivals, bringing together storytellers, traditions and cultures from different countries.

Before the festival began, Päär took part in a special programme of the European ANCESTOR project, a creative residency where storytellers from nine different countries worked together to create a shared storytelling programme for the festival. The result of this collaboration demonstrated how people from different cultural backgrounds are able to create something together, overcoming language and geographical barriers.

"It was a very special opportunity to be selected for such a creative process. Collaborative storytelling with storytellers from different countries once again showed that stories are borderless and unite people," said Piret Päär.

The festival was also preceded by a meeting of the European storytelling venues network. This took place as part of the ANCESTOR project, co-financed by the European Union's Creative Europe programme. The project's full name is "A Net to Catch European Stories and Tales from the Oral Tradition". The project's aim is to strengthen European networks of oral heritage and emphasise the importance of stories and storytelling traditions in preserving cultural heritage.

Estonia's participation in the Guadalajara festival provided an opportunity to showcase Estonian folk tales to a wider international audience and be part of a vibrant European storytelling heritage.