October 4-6, 2024, the International Storytelling Center will celebrate its 52nd annual National Storytelling Festival, considered the most prestigious storytelling event in the country. The festival began in 1973 when a small group of people gathered around an old farm wagon in Courthouse Square to hear a few Appalachian tales. During the decades since, that tiny audience has grown to 10,000 listeners, and the hay wagon has been replaced by large, circus-like tents spread throughout the town where world-renowned tellers spin their tales in this storybook setting. ISC is proud to produce the Festival, and attract an audience from across the globe who recognize Northeast Tennessee as the place to hear the finest storytelling talent in the world.