Check back to find out more news about the return of Tales in the Parks 2025 in Stoke-on-Trent. In the meantime, find out what happened at last year's event.
Thanks for coming to our Tales in the Park 2024 events - we were blown away with the support across our city and so thrilled to see all you wonderful families taking part and having fun. We'll see you next year for more free family fun.
What happened at the 2024 Tales in the Park storytelling festivals in Stoke?
Over 6,000 visitors celebrated the magic of stories at Stoke's Tale in the Park 2024.
Throughout the summer holidays the National Literacy Trust in Stoke-on-Trent delivered six storytelling festivals in local parks - in partnership with Stoke-on-Trent Libraries, YMCA North Staffs and Thrive at Five - across the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent.
Thank you to everyone who came to our Tales in the Park festivals, you were all part of making each event so magical... that's
- over 3,700 children, and
- over 6000 people in total
What a lot of families coming together to enjoy a wide range of literacy activities a FREE day out.
Thanks to the support of Harper Collins, all of the children who attended received a free book and many were blown away by the choice of books on offer.
Library membership is really important to the National Literacy Trust, throughout the festivals
- over 500 people registered to become library members, and
- over 250 children took part in the Summer Reading Challenge
This is amazing to see! We know that you loved the festival and are delighted that families will go on to find ways to discover books together at their local libraries and continue reading at home.
“My little girl absolutely loved it! She had her face painted and then loved the children's games and her books and it has sparked her love for reading. Thank you so much.”
“Our little boy loved playing in the ball pit, listening to the storyteller and picking out a couple of books. As parents we were impressed with the massive selection of free books available- well known titles and authors - what a fab way to get kids interested in reading whatever their financial background.”
Thank you to all our volunteers
A big thank you to our 20 local Literacy Champions who volunteered over 225 hours of their time to help us make the Tales in the Park festivals a success. Thank you for your support in all aspects of the event organisation from the setting-up gazebos to registration, book gifting and running literacy-based activities for families attending.
We also had 12 wonderful corporate volunteers from Hanley Economic Building Society, TSB and Capula who donated an additional 100 hours. While staff and volunteers from Stoke City Community Trust helped with the set-up of five of the six events totalling an additional 20 hours of support.
…It's been an amazing opportunity to get involved in the activities over half term… what a wonderful inclusive event it is. I'm a mum to five young children, half term can be so pricey. We've attended three of the events and each time all of my children have loved it, it's been great to get out the house and not have to spend a fortune to keep them occupied. Thank you for a fabulous summer and for maintaining the magic of reading for our future generation.
We absolutely loved it. So much to see and do. My little grandson fell over, and his little face lit up when Cinderella asked him if he was ok. I'll never forget the look of amazement on his face. I'm a child minder too and there was something for them all to enjoy. Thank you.
A huge thank you to our partners
The National Literacy Trust Stoke-on-Trent team would like to say a special thank you to the official Tales in the Park partners, Stoke-on-Trent Libraries and the YMCA.
Stoke-on-Trent Libraries introduced families to the Little Library Van, gave away books, signed children up to the Summer Reading Challenge and registered new library members.
The YMCA provided four members of staff to support with registration and book gifting, to transport books to and from each event and deliver the popular pop-up sports.
A special thank you also goes to Thrive at Five, Stoke-on-Trent Family Hubs, the sustainable travel team at Stoke-on-Trent Council and StormTroopers in a Teacup for donating their time and resources to run activities for children at every event.
Thank you to all our partners, providers and supporters for your input, hard work and commitment to the literacy of children in Stoke-on-Trent.
What to look forward to at Tales in the Park 2025 in Stoke-on-Trent?
We are letting the glitter and fun settle after a brilliant summer of events in Stoke-on-Trent but hope to bring you another great summer of storytelling in 2025. In the meantime, check back on our family pages for things to do in Stoke during the year.
Thanks to everyone who made Tales in the Park a brilliant series of events - here are just some of the brilliant activities and entertainment that families enjoyed at this year's event:
- Storytelling with Gav Cross, Jenny Morgan, Julie Moss, Dommy B, Alan Barrett, Sophia Hatfield and the Sensory Storyteller
- Poetry workshops with Alan Barrett
- Mascott visits from Port Vale and Stoke City Football Clubs
- Tagging artwork with Ark UK
- Special visits from Staffordshire Fire Service
- Bescura teddy bear’s picnic
- Junk Modelling with Kreative Foundations
- Book making with the Wildlife Trust
- Clay modelling with Karen Walker
- Story Stones making with Ferns and Fables
- Illustration workshops with Matt Buckingham
- Nasa NV Events - Bouncy Castle
- Kat Durber Face painting
- Abracadabra Magician
- Wish Upon a Princess
- Hubb Foundation
- A bubbles fairy
- Circus in a Box
- Coop Academy
What did you think?
If you came along to any of the 2024 festivals in Stoke, please do provide your feedback via the link below so that we can continually improve the events for the people of Stoke.