THE fifth Settle Storytelling Festival promises to be out of this world.

For one of the themes running through this year’s festival is space.

“It is about taking a journey and getting people to understand science,” said festival director Sita Brand.

The festival will run from next Friday, October 10, to next Sunday, October 12, and there are 43 events to choose from.

Sita added: “There will be stories from all five continents and there will be lots of free or low cost events. We want everyone to be able to take part.

“The festival is a chance to indulge in extraordinary stories, music, science and ideas.”

Helping to get the festival under way will be Voyage – a mixture of music, traditional songs, poetry and digital images from storyteller Ian Stephen, musician Giles Perring, singer Kirsty Law and visual artist Christine Morrison.

It will take place at Victoria Hall and will be followed by a performance by folk punk band Holy Moly and The Crackers.

“They have a unique sound,” said Sita.

Saturday’s highlights include making a space ship in the garden of the Friends Meeting House, enjoying a trip on a revolving lifeboat in the Market Place and hunting gold-hatted storyteller through the streets of Settle.

In the afternoon, Adrian Beckingham, The King of Things, will take children into a world of very different creatures at Victoria Hall and Hannah Earnshaw and Ryan McDonald will explain why they plan to join a one-way mission to Mars and settle on the planet.

The would-be astronauts will be joined at the Friends Meeting House by astronomer Gurbir Singh, who will talk about space technology.

Also, on Saturday, 21st century fool, Jonathan Kay, will entertain at the Royal Oak.

“His shows are totally improvised and you never know what is going to happen and, for that reason, it is restricted to 18s and over,” said Sita.

Another highlight is Jack Tales in Victoria Hall, with seventh generation Appalachian storyteller Jerry Harmon.

It was his great, great, great, grandfather, Council Harmon, who brought the Jack Tales from the United States to England in the 19th century. The best known of the tales is Jack and The Beanstalk, but there are many other stories of the lad who lives by his wits.

There are more storytelling events on Sunday, culminating in Tea and Tales at St John’s Hall with Jerry Harmon, Ana Maria Lines and friends.

Throughout the weekend, there are number of free events including a planet trail (following a solar system created to scale), a digital story trail using smartphones, a Stories on the Postcard exhibition at Settle Station and a story sculpture exhibition at the Friends Meeting House.

For more information, visit settlestories.org. uk