Les Colporteurs d'Histoires

Storytelling in All Its Forms

Born in 1996, Les Colporteurs d'Histoires is a biennial festival that has become a must-see in Lorraine for the arts of storytelling and oral tradition. For two weeks in October, the Val de Lorraine region transforms into a vast space for narration and sharing, where professional and amateur storytellers gather to celebrate the ancestral art of the tale.

An Itinerant Festival

The originality of Les Colporteurs d'Histoires lies in its itinerant nature. Shows, narrated walks, and vigils unfold in numerous communes of the Bassin de Pompey and the Val de Lorraine: media libraries, community halls, schoolyards, village squares, and forest paths all become stages for the artists. Pompey, Frouard, Custines, Liverdun, Champigneulles, Marbache, and Montenoy thus host performances suitable for all audiences.

Artists with Multiple Talents

The festival invites storytellers with diverse universes, often accompanied by musical instruments—ukulele, electric guitar, percussion—which enrich the narration with a musical dimension. The shows blend humor, poetry, suspense, and popular traditions, offering a rich emotional palette to spectators of all ages. Artists such as Julien Staudt, Hélène Palardy, Marie France Painset, Flopy, and Léa Pellarin have left their mark on past editions.

A Program for All Audiences

The program is designed to appeal to all generations: children's shows in schools and media libraries, conferences on the art of storytelling, narrated walks in nature, fireside vigils, and evening performances for adults. Storytelling is explored in all its facets: musical, itinerant, poetic, culinary, multicultural, and fantastic.

Strong Territorial Roots

Organized by the Ligue de l'Enseignement / FOL 54 in partnership with the Conseil de Pays du Val de Lorraine and the Communauté de Communes du Bassin de Pompey, the festival is deeply embedded in the local cultural life. It contributes to the animation of rural and peri-urban communes in the region, creating social and intergenerational connections around the shared pleasure of storytelling.

The Legacy of the Peddlers

The festival's name pays homage to the peddlers of yesteryear who, from village to village, transmitted news, legends, and stories during their travels. In this tradition, contemporary storytellers travel through the Val de Lorraine to weave connections between inhabitants through the magic of words and imagination.