About Gimistory
Rooted in an Old Tradition
Long before television or phones lit up a yard at night, this is how the Caribbean passed things down: on verandas, after church, at the fish fry. Someone always had a story, and everyone always had time for one.
Gimistory, the Cayman Islands International Storytelling Festival treats that tradition as a living practice – something a community still does together, not just something it watches and it has been going strong ever year since it’s inception.
How it Started
Gimistory was founded in 1998 under the artistic direction of Dr. Henry Muttoo, and developed through the Cayman National Cultural Foundation with managing director Ms. Marcia Muttoo, as part of CNCF’s broader mission to preserve, develop, and promote Caymanian cultural expression. From its inception, the festival was envisioned as both distinctly local and internationally connected – proudly Caymanian while creating space for storytelling traditions and artistic practices from around the world. Under Dr. Henry Muttoo’s artistic leadership, the festival brought together prominent regional and international artists, with cultural exchange and cross-sharing of creative practices remaining central to the event’s purpose.
No ‘Stage’ - Just an Itinerary
Instead of one venue, Gimistory travels around the island. Performances pop up on beaches, in public parks, at heritage sites, and in spaces across all three islands. Admission is free throughout, supported primarily by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage as well a community sponsors.
The Voices
Over the years, Gimistory has developed beyond a festival programme into a platform for cultural exchange, bringing together storytellers, musicians, writers, cultural practitioners, historians, and cultural commentators from Cayman, across the Caribbean, and internationally. This diversity is important because storytelling is not a single artistic form – it is a living cultural practice across the Caribbean that carries history, language, identity, memory, and community knowledge from one generation to the next.
* Regional pioneers – Ken Corsbie and Dr. Amina Blackwood-Meeks, whose work helped shape Caribbean storytelling as a recognized cultural discipline, alongside musician and cultural commentator Dave Martins.
* International visitors – including The Storycrafters (Jeri Burns and Barry Marshall), Robert “Bobaloo” Basey, and theatre historian Raymond Funk.
* Caribbean musical storytelling – Swanky Kitchen Band (Caymanian kitchen music, since 2009) and calypso/extempo artists like Kairi Kaiso and Black Sage.
* Caymanian voices – Nasaria Suckoo-Chollette and Donna Tull-Cox, carrying the local literary and theatrical tradition forward.
Why it Matters
The Cayman Islands are home to more than 160 nationalities – so a Gimistory audience rarely hears just one tradition in a night. West African folktales sit next to Caribbean calypso; Caymanian kitchen music sits next to a visiting scholar-storyteller. It’s proof that storytelling is both one of humanity’s oldest practices and a living, local one – still passed voice to voice.
Still Going Strong
Gimistory is primarily funded by the Cayman National Cultural Foundation (CNCF) through an annual grant provided by the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Culture and Heritage. This public investment reflects the festival’s role within Cayman’s broader cultural development infrastructure and its contribution to the preservation, promotion, and allows us to keep the gates free and open to the public.
The institutional support provided through CNCF reinforces the festival’s position as a cultural initiative with a public and national mandate, rather than solely a commercial entertainment event.
At the same time, continued development of the festival will always require diversification of revenue and strategic partnerships, including sponsorship, international partnerships and philanthropic support.
Gimistory has always kept doing one job: keep the story going, and keep the circle open. Find out ways you can support or participate by contacting the Cayman National Cultural Foundation.
Rooted in an Old Tradition
Long before television or phones lit up a yard at night, this is how the Caribbean passed things down: on verandas, after church, at the fish fry. Someone always had a story, and everyone always had time for one.
Gimistory, the Cayman Islands International Storytelling Festival treats that tradition as a living practice – something a community still does together, not just something it watches and it has been going strong ever year since it’s inception.
How it Started
Gimistory was founded in 1998 under the artistic direction of Dr. Henry Muttoo, and developed through the Cayman National Cultural Foundation with managing director Ms. Marcia Muttoo, as part of CNCF’s broader mission to preserve, develop, and promote Caymanian cultural expression.
From its inception, the festival was envisioned as both distinctly local and internationally connected – proudly Caymanian while creating space for storytelling traditions and artistic practices from around the world.
Under Dr. Henry Muttoo’s artistic leadership, the festival brought together prominent regional and international artists, with cultural exchange and cross-sharing of creative practices remaining central to the event’s purpose.
No ‘Stage’ - Just an Itinerary
Instead of one venue, Gimistory travels around the island. Performances pop up on beaches, in public parks, at heritage sites, and in spaces across all three islands.
Admission is free throughout, supported primarily by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage as well a community sponsors.
The Voices
Over the years, Gimistory has developed beyond a festival programme into a platform for cultural exchange, bringing together storytellers, musicians, writers, cultural practitioners, historians, and cultural commentators from Cayman, across the Caribbean, and internationally. This diversity is important because storytelling is not a single artistic form – it is a living cultural practice across the Caribbean that carries history, language, identity, memory, and community knowledge from one generation to the next.
* Regional pioneers – Ken Corsbie and Dr. Amina Blackwood-Meeks, whose work helped shape Caribbean storytelling as a recognized cultural discipline, alongside musician and cultural commentator Dave Martins.
* International visitors – including The Storycrafters (Jeri Burns and Barry Marshall), Robert “Bobaloo” Basey, and theatre historian Raymond Funk.
* Caribbean musical storytelling – Swanky Kitchen Band (Caymanian kitchen music, since 2009) and calypso/extempo artists like Kairi Kaiso and Black Sage.
* Caymanian voices – Nasaria Suckoo-Chollette and Donna Tull-Cox, carrying the local literary and theatrical tradition forward.
Why it Matters
The Cayman Islands are home to more than 160 nationalities – so a Gimistory audience rarely hears just one tradition in a night.
West African folktales sit next to Caribbean calypso; Caymanian kitchen music sits next to a visiting scholar-storyteller. It’s proof that storytelling is both one of humanity’s oldest practices and a living, local one – still passed voice to voice.
Still Going
Gimistory is primarily funded by the Cayman National Cultural Foundation (CNCF) through an annual grant provided by the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Culture and Heritage. This public investment reflects the festival’s role within Cayman’s broader cultural development infrastructure and its contribution to the preservation, promotion, and allows us to keep the gates free and open to the public.
The institutional support provided through CNCF reinforces the festival’s position as a cultural initiative with a public and national mandate, rather than solely a commercial entertainment event.
At the same time, continued development of the festival will always require diversification of revenue and strategic partnerships, including sponsorship, international partnerships and philanthropic support.
Gimistory has always kept doing one job: keep the story going, and keep the circle open. Find out ways you can support or participate by contacting the Cayman National Cultural Foundation.
