When is National Storytelling Week?
In 2026, we will be celebrating National Storytelling Week from Monday 2 February to Sunday 8 February with FREE online events running on Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 February 2026.
What is National Storytelling Week?
Created by Society for Storytelling, this fantastic annual event is a joyful celebration of the power of sharing stories. Stories teach us about the world; they allow us to step into someone else’s shoes and feel empathy; they help us to relax and escape and they can help develop essential literacy skills.
National Storytelling Week 2026 is a celebration of oral storytelling, reading and writing for pleasure. At a time when young people’s writing and reading enjoyment levels are at their lowest, National Storytelling Week has never been more important.
This year, our exciting storytelling project is supported by Amazon.
Part of the National Year of Reading 2026.
What is the theme for National Storytelling Week 2026?
The theme for National Storytelling Week 2026 is Soundtrack your story. Everyone has their own musical story - whether it’s in the songs we love and the music we dance to, through British Sign Language and the rhythms we feel, the soundscapes of everyday life, or the soundtracks we hear in films and games. Music connects us to words. It helps us express who we are and how we see the world.
Our research highlights that exploring stories through lyrics can be an effective way to re-engage young people with reading for enjoyment and writing for pleasure. Three in five young people age 8 to 18 said that they regularly read song lyrics digitally. Writing song lyrics is especially popular among young people age 8-18, with one in five (17.8%) telling us they write lyrics on a screen at least once a month.
Throughout the week, we will explore the magic of storytelling through sound, lyrics and rhythm. Who’s ready to pick up the mic?
Take part in National Storytelling Week
Step one: Workshops (early years, primary and secondary)
We will provide pre-recorded videos for Early Years and will host three interactive virtual workshops with expert storytellers for UK schools and home educators. Please sign up for the workshops below.
Early Years:
Rhyme, rhythm and wriggles' singalong and storytime videos with poet Simon Mole and musician Gecko (coming soon)
Ages 5 to 7: Building stories through sound with Annemarie Anang
- Date: Tuesday 3 February, 9.30am to 10.30am
- For: ages 5 to 7, Key Stage 1/P2-3
Ages 7 to 11: Exploring stories through rap and rhythm with Alim Kamara
- Date: Tuesday 3 February, 11.00am to 11.45am
- For: ages 7 to 11, Key Stage 2/P4-7
Ages 11 to 14: Uncovering how music and lyrics tell stories that matter with Jeffrey Boakye
- Date: Wednesday 4 February, 10.00am to 10.45am
- For: ages 11 to 14, Key Stage 3/S1-3
Step two: Resources (early years, primary and secondary)
We will have National Storytelling Week activities and resources designed to be used by practitioners in early years settings.
Our writing workshops are accompanied by classroom resources to help you deliver exciting storytelling projects for Key Stages 1 to 3 (P2-7, S1-3). The resources and workshops follow the Soundtrack your story theme to promote a love of reading, writing and storytelling, in a way that also meets national curriculum requirements for writing.
These resources will be going live soon, please sign up to our education Resources and Training newsletter to be notified when they are available.
Part of the National Year of Reading 2026
This year, National Storytelling Week will be the first Go All In Together moment for the National Year of Reading. These moments are live events for schools and settings to celebrate reading and literacy, together across the UK.
National Year of Reading is a government backed campaign, initiated by the Department of Education with the National Literacy Trust as its delivery partner. We believe reading is a powerful plug-in to the things you already love – a great way to go deeper into your existing passions. Put simply we say: ‘if you’re into it, read into it’. National Storytelling Week will be an exciting launch into a year of exploring passions through reading and writing.
The full shape of the schools and early years settings offer for the National Year of Reading will be launched soon, with more information to come.
Our classroom activities span early years, primary and secondary, and we’d love you to take part in all elements for your phase.
Resources for storytelling at home
These resources will be going live soon.
Get in touch
If you have any questions about our activities for National Storytelling Week, please email Young Writers: young.writers@literacytrust.org.uk
What teachers told us last year
“(National Storytelling Week) completely negated the 'I can't think of how to start' that often holds pupils back. The assertion that you just write until something good starts to happen is the most valuable lesson. And so very important to hear it from someone other than a teacher!!”
“One of our dyslexic pupils has previously really worried about the technical aspects of his writing. During this project, he was able to let go and really apply his creativity.”
“Exceptional. Year Five children were so enthusiastic about creating their own narrative after such a stimulating and engaging online event delivered by the author.”