SHOWS featuring a touch of technology and a giant 50 foot whale will be among the highlights at this weekend's Settle Stories Festival.

"With so many events in the town centre, we think the festival will be a boost for the market place, but what stands out for me is the high quality of artists we have this year," said communications and events manager Charles Tyrer.

The theme for the Settle Stories Festival, which takes place from tomorrow to Sunday, is 'technology' and various kinds of technology will be used to tell stories.

"The festival is set to be better than ever this year," said Sita Brand, director of Settle Stories. "We're expecting more people than ever before and what an eclectic line up we have. There really is something for all the family.

"Settle Market Place will be a hive of activity with all sorts of free events. There's the 50 foot whale that little ones can step inside to meet a live pirate and mermaid. Then we've got lantern making, craft gazebos, and Karvan, a renovated caravan that you can step inside, spin the compass and travel to anywhere in the world without leaving Settle.

"But, of course, story is more than just child's play. There's so much going on for adults. Many of our workshops have now sold out but you can still catch the bigger performances."

The festival will begin tomorrow, and one of the first events will be the launch of the Listening Gallery, an 'adopted' telephone box on Duke Street, at 5pm.

The festival's first theatre performance will be the edgy political show A Machine They Are Secretly Building by Proto-type Theatre.

The show, which will focus how digital technology affects people's lives, will be staged at 7.30pm in Settle Victoria Hall.

On Saturday, Charles said a big family highlight will be The Queen and the Jester, performed by Ursula Holden Gill and Keith Donnelly, which tells the story of a queen obsessed with love and a jester who is always up to mischief.

Keith will also be the storyteller for Tales and a Tipple, which takes place at 8.30pm on Saturday in the Royal Oak pub. Just before that, the show Wi-Fi Wars will be held at 7.30pm in Settle Victoria Hall.

"Wi-Fi Wars is a must see," said Sita Brand, director of Settle Stories. "Hosted by Steve McNeil, who many will recognise from television, this is an interactive game where you play along on your smart phone.

"Tales and a Tipple will be a chilled out performance in the Royal Oak, with storyteller and musician Keith Donnelly."

Also featured on Saturday will be Even in Wartime Children Play, a play that fuses sonic art, poetry and visual manipulation; Reflecting Fridas and On the Wings of Butterflies, both performed by Brazilian storyteller Ana Maria Lines.

Then on Sunday, one of the highlights will be And the Birds Fell From the Sky, which allows a person to experience theatre through a pair of video goggles.

Other Sunday offerings include Ursula Holden Gill's retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream, 2 Magpies Theatre's Last Resort, a show which presents an alternative future for Guantanomo Bay, and hip hop artist and storyteller Alim Kamara, who Sita says "will leave you in stitches" with his performance of The Hip Hop Griot.

The festival's final piece of theatre will be a 5pm Sunday performance of The Unforgettable Tongue.

Sita said: "For those interested in local folklore, The Unforgettable Tongue is not to be missed, as it tells the story of the boar of Bradford from the 1300s."

For tickets and more information, visit settlestories.org.uk