Our Story

Fable Arts was set up in 2014 by creative director, producer and writer, Alex O’Toole, as part of a move from the creative industries into the creative arts. As an extension of Alex’s creative practice, Fable quickly developed a reputation for delivering ambitious, co-created programmes that opened up conversations and facilitated partnership working between arts and non-arts organisations.

Our inaugural project, The Festival of Stories, a three day large scale outdoor family arts festival, was produced in partnership with commercial music festival, Lytham Festival and community development organisation, Park View 4 U. Attracting a live audience of 7,000, it featured 67 artists and provided volunteer opportunities for 50 people.

Since then we’ve developed and delivered countless cross-sector programmes and projects across the North of England. Our work spans live, print and digital platforms and we collaborate religiously. Over the years we have broadcast the sound of oystercatchers into train carriages, turned a hospital ward into a herbarium, transformed libraries into imaginariums and conjured inner worlds onto the streets of Lancashire.