With this year's theme Celebration we celebrate 5 years of Storytelling Festival Nijmegen and wonder what else do we have to celebrate? An anniversary, a wedding, freedom, diversity, our health, ourselves or just life? Join us as we journey through three days of celebrations! We will be guided on this journey by storyteller and comedian Soula Notos as our festival host extraordinaire.

Self-Saturday – Celebrating the self

Tonight, we dive deep into the party that is taking place within ourselves. We celebrate our mental and physical health, or in some cases lack thereof, and life itself. Three extraordinary stories that explore and celebrate the self in a combination of storytelling and comedy. Or, for those who prefer something a little darker, dramedy!

20:00 – 21:00 | Başak Layiç – Divine Madness

Who is insane? Find out in this ritual performance where music and theatrical storytelling guide you through the depths of madness and the Divine Feminine.

After years of battling panic attacks, Başak consults a modern witch in Istanbul and uncovers that her anxiety is rooted in her family’s past. She learns that her grandmother, labelled 'crazy' and who ended her own life, has been haunting her. To rid herself of this presence and avoid a similar fate, Başak embarks on a journey into the mysteries where she asks for the help of Lilith. With the audience's help, Başak will delve into the depths of madness and seek light within the darkness, navigating the fine line between reality and fantasy while grappling with the haunting question: 'Am I the one who is mad, or is it the Divine?’

Born and raised in Istanbul, Başak Layiç is a versatile theater maker, storyteller, Artistic Director, and Community Builder. Başak’s works delve into profound philosophical questions blended with comedy and a certain musicality, ensuring her narratives stick in your mind like a catchy tune you can't stop humming - only less annoying.

21:20 - 21:50 | Annica Muller – THIS IS FUCKING CHAOS

THIS IS FUCKING CHAOS is a Stand Up Dramedy show and a work in progress by theater maker Annica Muller. After immersing herself in Berlin’s comedy scene for two months, she set out to explore the power of stand-up—diving into humor as both a remedy and a revolutionary force. With raw honesty and sharp irony, Annica shares her naked truths, shedding light on the absurdity of life in direct connection with the audience. THIS IS FUCKING CHAOS, is a racial remake of Muller’s graduation solo This Ain’t Fucking Paris (2015), hardcore rewritten with all the random wisdom, real drama and hard learned life lessons from the past decade. How on earth did we come here, and where the hell is this going to?

She navigates to all forms of chaos—from personal struggles to global crises—using humor to confront heavy themes head-on. Through laughter, she reveals how chaos isn’t just destructive—it can also ignite creativity.

Annica Muller has been creating theater that focuses on meaning since 2015. Her work is challenging and disarming: with humor and perspective, Muller breaks taboos and opens up conversations about complex and loaded topics. ‘

22:15 - 23:15 | Fer Rodil - Fer is on a deadline

As a teenager, Fer started wondering how it must feel to know that death is looming.

He had many feelings about it, mostly negative.

Until his therapist at the time, a woman who used to forget his name - but that’s another story - released him from his dread with a rhetorical spell:

"You’re getting yourself paralyzed by the fear of death to avoid facing the stress of life. You kneel before the only problem that you cannot solve so you don’t have to solve the ones that you can. What you fear is not death, Federico. What you fear is life.

My name is Fernando.

"Yeah, Fernando. Sorry.”

In search for the meaning of it all, Fer is creating a personal show at a moment in which the grim reaper seems to be waving at him from across the street.

Fer Rodil is an Argentinian director and storyteller directly imported from the Buenos Aires theater scene. In 2020, he moved to the Netherlands, following love and escaping inflation.