There are three age categories and one entry per category will be selected as the winner. The age groups are 11 yrs and under, 12 – 17 and 18yrs and over. The winning entry in each age category will be awarded the accolade of Falkirk Storytelling Festival Champion 2019, and receive a mounted output of their work courtesy of Eden Consultancy Group, and a £50 Howgate Gift Card. The winners will also receive a pair tickets to a Falkirk Football Club home game.
Our aim in this competition is to celebrate the wonderful imagination and creativity of children and adults alike.
Submissions made by the closing date are now under review by the judges
T&C’s
1. The competition is organised by the Falkirk Storytelling Festival.
2. Entry to this competition is open to persons of all ages.
3. Entrants must write a fictional short story (no more than 300 words in length). Entry is via the online entry form available at www.falkirkstorytellingfestival.co.uk. Entry forms are also available from the Howgate Centre’s Help Desk and can be returned to the Help Desk. Entrants will be asked to provide their name, address and their date of birth.
4. An adult will be required to approve the entry and agree to these Terms and Conditions (including the use of the story) on behalf of entrants who are less than 16 years of age. The adult may be the child’s parent, guardian or teacher. The adult must also provide their own contact details.
5. The competition is open for entries from Thursday 22nd August and closes at midnight on Saturday 28th September 2019. Submissions received outside of this time frame will not be considered, so please do not wait until the last minute to upload your entry.
6. Entrants can only enter individually. Only one entry per person is permitted and the story must be wholly written by the entrant only; stories cannot be written by more than one person. If more than one entry is submitted, only the entrant’s first submission will be considered.
7. Entries must be an original piece of fiction and not an account of real events – either historical or current. However, stories can feature well known public figures from present day or from history and take place in historical eras or use real-life experiences as a creative springboard as long as the story is FICTIONAL. The entrant warrants that they have not used material or depicted events that actually took place or used the personal details of any living persons in the story. As the stories will be published, it is important that entrants do not include any personal details about themselves. The entrant must not include their name in the title or body of the story; entries which do contain this information may be rejected.
8. Entries cannot be returned so please remember to retain a copy if you wish to do so. Unsuccessful entrants will not be contacted in respect of their entry and no feedback on any entry will be provided. We will only contact the winners in each age category.
9. All entries must be the original work of the entrant and must not infringe the rights of any other party. The Falkirk Storytelling Festival organisers accept no responsibility if entrants ignore these Terms and Conditions and entrants agree to indemnify the organisers against any claim by any third party from any breach of these Terms and Conditions.
10. Entries must not contain defamatory, obscene, offensive, or any other unsuitable material. Entries must be suitable to be published or used online by the festival organisers and the Howgate Shopping Centre for audiences of all ages, but in particular for a child audience.
11. Entrants retain the copyright in their entries but grant to the festival and its partners a perpetual non-exclusive licence to publish and post the entry online and on any other platforms yet to be envisaged.
12. Entries will be judged on the following criteria:
– Originality
– Plot / Development of Theme
– Characterisation
– Language
– Enjoyment
15. The competition will be judged an independent panel including the Howgate Centre’s general manager and a representative from Falkirk Library. The judges decision is final.
