Milk & Cookie Stories

Powered by volunteers and donations alone it seems a miracle this event has continued for so long, that is until you witness the magic that is Milk & Cookies.
Most of the story telling is top notch but if there’s one that’s not your cup of tea you can console yourself with an actual (and free) cup of tea. There’s also coffee and herbal infusions and cookies and buns and cakes and smiling people and blankets and pillows and low relaxed lighting.
Pro tip, I like to bring my crochet (it’s like knitting but cooler), you can get a lot completed and not all the story tellers entertain you visually.
Pro tip 2, bring your own baked goods and enter them into the bake off, cool prizes can be won.
Presently Milk & Cookies home is at Moxie Studios which thankfully doesn’t suffer from the stuffiness of the Exchange or the draughtiness of the Chocolate Factory their two previous venues. It’s just right.
It is a very special place where all people should visit. Check the website and social media for updates.

Milk & Cookies is a free story telling event run by volunteers every month. It is held in the Exchange Building in Temple Bar. They usually have at least 2 professional storytellers and then audience members are invited at the beginning of the night, if they have a story, to participate. It was my second time to go to the event and is well worth the visit.
The event is very popular. It kicks off at 7.30 but we got there for 7 and there was a queue of people outside the door already. Once the doors were open we were offered tea/​coffee and cakes/​cookies. The room is beautifully decorated with fairy lights and there is an almost amphitheatre of chairs and beds surrounding duvets and bean bags on the floor for people to sit on. Even with our early arrival we only managed to get a space to sit on the floor, so if you’re not there early be prepared to stand.
Each night has a different theme, on the occasion the theme was «show & tell» so each story-​teller brought an item (ranging from pebbles to a wooden carved deer antler) and they told their stories based on the item. The story-​tellers themselves ranged from professional to first timers and the stories ranged from the sad to the beautiful to the inspiring to the hysterical. While the stories were being told there was a screen on the right side of the room where someone was drawing interpretations of the stories.
The really great thing about this event is that audience members arrived with cakes and cookies they have freshly baked which are passed around throughout the night (did I mention this is all free!) and during the interval 3 people are chosen from the audience to judge the «bake-​off» so the person with the best cake of the night wins a prize.
The event runs for about 3 hours but you can leave at any time.
Drawbacks: There is only one bathroom and if you’re not early you will find yourself standing or sitting on the floor. It’s a very popular event so the room is packed with people. After 2 hours sitting on the floor I was feeling a little cramped.
There is a lovely sense of community from the organisers and audience members of Milk & Cookies. Everyone is made feel welcome and those that have the courage to get up and tell stories are given lots of encouragement. There is an upcoming Milk & Cookies After Dark night coming up soon (in the Complex in Smithfield and it’s bring your own bottle) which I can’t wait to check out.
I have to take my hat off to the organisers, the volunteers who make tea/​coffee and hand out cakes and those who go to the trouble of making for a group of people some they hardly know every month. Free events like these in Dublin are treasures. Highly recommended