Of Stars, Bears and the Beginning of Time

An enchanting mythical journey through the celestial origin stories of the Fenno-Baltic tradition, told by  Finnish-born storyteller Riikka Palonen and accompanied by folk musician Richard Clarke.

This performance was  selected as the opening performance for the Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2025, and it got a completely full house in the Edinburgh Storytelling Center. It has also been performed for good audiences in Aberdeen and Beyond Storytelling Festival 2025, Crail Community Hall spring 2026 and on Orkney in collaboration with Orcadian Story Trust also spring 2026.

Modern science tells us we were born from star dust – but how did the ancient people in the north know that, as there are so many creation myths linked to stars? Who told them these first stories? What is the origin of iron? Who married the girl from the golden egg? How was the first oak cut down? During this performance Riikka creates the entire world bit by bit from star dust, and reveals the secrets of the great cycle of life.  At the same time elemental stories like these remind us  that we are still equally part of this world alongside bears, cranes and wolves, and that is why it is our responsibility to take care of our amazing planet.