The Shire Hall Museum team are looking forward to meeting residents and visitors at the Monmouth Festival of Stories this autumn as part of its first community engagement event ahead of the museum’s reopening.

Taking place on 3 October, the team will be based in the arts and crafts tent in The Priory Gardens at St James’ Church, Monmouth. The theme is ‘Gather Round’.

Participants will have the chance to create short narratives, design colourful ghost ships, and bring Vice-Admiral Nelson to life with fancy dress and photo opportunities.

At 4pm, participants will also be invited to read their creative writing pieces in the Storytelling Tent.

The ghost ships and written stories created during the day will become part of Nelson’s Ghostly Trail, taking place during the October half term. The trail will be available from Monmouth Library from 23 October, giving visitors the chance to follow Nelson’s ghostly adventures through the town.

The event marks the beginning of what the museum hopes will be a fruitful relationship with Monmouth Festival of Stories.

The Shire Hall Museum’s activities at the festival form part of the Shire Hall Museum Project, made possible thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Welsh Government’s Cultural Transformation Capital Programme, The Wolfson Foundation, and the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund.

For more information, visit: Monmouth Festival of Stories – Festival in Monmouth, Monmouth

Monmouthshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Rural Affairs, Housing & Tourism, Cllr Sara Burch, said: “”The Festival of Stories is a great chance for people to meet the team from the new Shire Hall Museum, get creative, and play a part in celebrating and sharing local heritage through storytelling and art. “We are grateful to the festival organisers for inviting us to be part of the day and look forward to building on this relationship in the future.”