One of the oldest arts is the art of storytelling. All people are storytellers in some way or another, but some people are particularly good at it. Everyone knows a good storyteller -- someone from the family, at work or school, in the news – and most people flock around the storyteller for entertainment, knowledge, and enlightenment.
Today, storytelling festivals have become quite popular across the country. Every state and many organizations within each state have some sort of storytelling festival. The biggest storytelling festival that takes place in the U.S. is in Jonesborough, Tennessee, home of the National Storytelling Festival.
Despite their growing popularity, storytelling festivals are still an unknown phenomenon to many people. In fact, those who have never been to a festival probably don’t know what to expect from one.
What Happens at a Storytelling Festival?
A storytelling festival brings together people who are interested in being entertained and entertaining others with the ancient and ever-changing art of the oral story. A festival will have a variety of ways for people to immerse themselves in the experience of stories.
Festivals are usually scheduled as two-day events. Of the North Atlantic Festival of Storytelling, Melvin Maddocks notes, “Again and again, during the two days and two nights of storytelling, the small miracle happens. There is a perfect gesture, an eloquent word, a scrap of song or dance, and the imagination soars” (Time, Aug. 3, 1981).
Different types of story sessions or concerts of varying lengths, some with themes or linked stories, are the main focus of storytelling festivals. In each session, a small group of storytellers will take turns telling stories.
In addition to the story sessions, most storytelling festivals offer a food court or vendor area. Sometimes a silent auction to raise funds for the storytelling group who presents the festival might occur. Of course, most festivals allow plenty of time between events for people to have conversations with and to meet like-minded folks all interested in storytelling.
What Kinds of Sessons Should One Expect?
Small sessions could have one or several tellers who speak and tell stories to a small audience. Story swaps are facilitated by a storyteller who introduces the session and explains how the swap works and then allows audience members to participate by telling their own stories. A story concert will usually feature 3-5 tellers and an emcee who will introduce each and each will tell a series of stories.
Festivals often include workshops where the audience can learn presentation and composition techniques. Workshops can be geared toward a specific audience, such as educators, but often, they are for anyone interested in the art of storytelling. Some festivals will offer workshops for people of all levels of storytelling ability and experience – beginners to experienced tellers.
One workshop offered by storyteller Jeannine Pasini Beekman at the Spirit of Oklahoma Storytelling Festival, offers this advice: "Storytellers sometimes fear that technique will taint their work, making it impure and artificial. In reality, a lack of technique can make our telling confusing, unintelligible and just plain boring." Pasini Beekman's workshop seeks "to explore practical ways to employ movement, voice and characterization so that others may more easily hear the stories we tell."
Who Should Attend a Storytelling Festival?
Anyone. Individuals or families. Groups. Couples. Friends. Adults, teenagers, children. Most festivals have something for everyone. Everyone loves stories -- they are hardwired into the human brain. Many times, the pure pleasure of hearing a good story seems forgotten, but a festival can bring that pleasure back in full force.
While anyone can have fun at a festival, people who particularly will benefit are those who deal with stories on a day-to-day or professional basis: teachers, librarians, students, daycare workers, social service workers, and more. In recent years health professionals have discovered how vital communication through stories and poetry is to the overall health of an individual, and they can certainly benefit from what can be learned at a storytelling festival.
Almost any profession one can think of has some element of storytelling in it. And besides a professional interested in storytelling, most people get involved in storytelling simply because it is just great, traditional fun. Hearing someone tell a story is a wonderful antidote when one’s life might seem overrun with technological, non-personal modes of communication.
At a storytelling festival, as storyteller Rex Ellis notes, “"The spoken word is taken from the page and made alive and vibrant and faithful to the exact time and moment that it is spoken” (as qtd. in Simmons).
Storytelling festivals are a kind of entertainment that more people should consider exploring. These festivals have something for the whole family.
References
- Maddocks, Melvin. “In Maine: Storytellers Cast Their Ancient Spell.” Time. 3 Aug. 1981.
- Simmons, Judy D. "Spoken Words: Storytelling festivals continue the griot tradition." Black Issues Book Review 5.4 (2003): 62-63.
Shaun Perkins - Shaun Perkins, teacher, poet, storyteller, porch-sitter, beekeeper, gardener, writer, has been a high school and university teacher for ...
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