BIGGER and better - that's the word from the team behind this year's Settle Stories Festival with more than 70 events in the burgeoning event's 2018 line-up.

Centre stage in the stunning Yorkshire Dales market town of Settle, this year's lyrical gathering offers the chance to explore how technology can enhance the oldest of traditions, storytelling.

Pioneering digital artists from far and wide will descend on the rural idyll from Friday-Sunday, April 6-8.

Included will be Il Pixel Rosso with its immersive performance And the Birds Fell From the Sky. Apparently, experienced wearing video goggles with just one other person, the piece is described as a joyride from the inside of your head all the way to the edge of civilisation.

Also in the digitally dynamic programme is Wi-Fi Wars, a record breaking live comedy game show where the audience play along on their smartphone, hosted by comedian Steve McNeil, whose team captain on Dara O Brian’s Go 8 Bit.

Meanwhile, Proto-Type Theatre presents A Machine They’re Secretly Building. Using film, music and sound, the political piece charts a course from the top secrets of the First World War intelligence through to 9/11, the erosion of privacy, Edward Snowden and the terror of a future that might already be upon us.

The festival has plenty for young audiences. One of this year's highlights promises to be Circo Rum Ba Ba, which is taking along a 50-feet inflatable whale that will sit in Settle's market place. Festivalgoers can enter through the massive marine mammal's mouth and experience interactive storytelling.

Also featured during the three-day feast of fables will be the premiere of The Queen and the Jester performed by Ursula Holden Gill and Keith Donnelly, a Teddy Bears Picnic, a Candlelit Ghost Walk and The Hip Hop Griot with Alim Kamara from Sierra Leone, who will light up the stage with rhythmic mix of storytelling and hip hop.

Festival director Sita Brand said she can’t believe how the event has grown: "Now the largest of its kind in the north of England audiences flock here from across the country. Why do they love it? I think it’s the place, the rolling hills and community feel. And of course we’ve become known for bringing the very best artists in the country here too."

For further information visit settlestories.org.uk or telephone 05603-845693.