November.- Our storytelling association began as many other communities do: as an idea shared among friends. An idea of a place to share and listen without judgement or reservations; a space with a warm and welcoming atmosphere to tell stories, whether personal or fictional. Thus, The Thousand Tales came to life. From stories shared in someone’s living room, to collaborations with cafés and bars around Turku, a dream became reality in just nine months.
The Thousand Tales is a storytelling community based in Turku. What does that mean, you might ask? Well, it means that we create events with an open space for sharing stories. The events are primarily in English; anyone is welcome to share in a different language, but the hosting and primary activities take place in English. As a result, we welcome people from many different countries and cultures - anyone is welcome! This is one of the values of storytelling: sharing and hearing stories from different cultures. What better way to get to know someone and their culture than by hearing their own stories as they tell them? Sometimes these stories make us laugh, sometimes they make us shed a tear. There is room for all kinds of stories in the safe space we aim to provide. Fictional stories are welcome, too. There is much truth and honesty to be found in the fictional. As long as you’ve written it yourself, you’re welcome to share.
The storytelling events often come with themes; in March we welcomed the spring with stories of "Becoming"; in July we "Unveiled History" with folklore stories from our home countries; in October we shared our "Dreams and Nightmares" in a spooky, but cozy setting.
We often meet new people who come to the storytelling events just to listen. This is perfectly fine, too. Sometimes they feel inspired by the stories they hear to share a story of their own, after all; sometimes they share at the next event; or maybe they never do and stay listening. As long as we provide a kind and caring space for anyone to participate in, we’re happy!
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The year is coming to an end and by February next year, The Thousand Tales will be able to celebrate one whole year of storytelling events. We’re so proud of the community we’ve created and hope to be able to continue these evenings of storytelling.
However, in order to keep going, we’ll need help.
The Thousand Tales is in need of both volunteers and board members. We are in need of people who will help plan and host the events, and a social media manager. This will only require a few hours of your time a month - enough to have a meeting about how the next event will go, and to participate in the event itself. For official board member roles, we are in need of a new Treasurer and a new Secretary. It’s okay if you don’t have prior experience with NGO’s, voluntary work, or board roles. You can learn on the job and you’ll be guided and helped with settling into your new role.
As we’ve worked hard to create this community this year which we so adore - we now ask for help from our community to keep it going.
The Instagram account for The Thousand Tales is @the1000tales_storytelling - you’re welcome to reach out there, or use the Linktr.ee in the bio which will take you to The Thousand Tales’ WhatsApp group.
By sharing stories, we open our hearts and minds to each other, to new experiences, and to new perspectives. At The Thousand Tales’ storytelling events, our aim is to create a safe, warm, and open-minded space that welcomes everyone. Having a community is so important; whether you’re new in Turku from another country, another part of Finland, or just in need of new experiences and meeting new people - we hope to see you.
Come share your story with us - we’d love to hear it!