The Cyfarwydd Storytelling Retreat

"You will find a comfortable seat riding on the shoulders of giants."

A weekend Story Telling Retreat with Cyfarwydd (traditional Welsh Story teller) Ceri John Phillips. Exploring autumnal themes through the world’s oral traditions. A day and a half of interactive workshops with a focus on the hearing and enjoying of tales, in a beautiful setting. If you want to grow your own story telling ability, artistic practice, and public speaking skills then this weekend is for you. You will undoubtedly boost confidence through immersion in this ancient tradition.

Ceri will lead discussions, workshop activities, story walks and of course will tell some tales along the way. All this while tailoring the experience to the needs and expectations of each participant-whatever you would like from this first foray into a story telling retreat, we will find it together.

What your weekend will look like:

Arrive on Friday at 4pm for check in and orientation. Dinner will be served in the B&B dining room and be accompanied by traditional Welsh Tales.

Saturday morning, after breakfast, will see you going out into the private woodland of Henllys Estate for a story walk. Setting the scene and connecting you to land a place.

Before Lunch there will be a creative workshop getting you comfortable with narrative and performance.

After lunch there will be a workshop focusing on what you can get out of storytelling. The session will include some group work before each participant can then focus on their own ideas with close support from Ceri. There will follow an opportunity engage in the more performative aspect of storytelling through sharing.

Saturday evening will see the group gather around the big fire pit in the barn where we will join local children in their annual Halloween party, watching as Ceri terrifies them (and possibly you) with all his most horrifying tales. Dinner will be served after the party back in the B&B.

Sunday morning after breakfast. De brief and reflection. And a parting tale from Ceri.

Inclusive all are welcome friendly. Due to the nature of the woodland the story walk is not accessible for wheelchair users, and the B&B has limited accessibility. Please feel free to call and discuss your access needs. We can cater for most dietary requirements with notice.