One Festival, Three Days, and a World of Stories
October 4–6, 2019 Jonesborough Tennessee
The 47th annual National Storytelling Festival is October 4 – 6, 2019.
In addition to the main stage concerts—the heart and soul of the Festival—the International Storytelling Center curates special events Wednesday through Sunday. Please note that many of these events are ticketed separately.
*** THE FULL NATIONAL STORYTELLING FESTIVAL SCHEDULE WILL NOT BE POSTED UNTIL SEPTEMBER 20.***
As of today, the items listed below are only for Pre-Festival and Special Events throughout the weekend. Be sure to check back on September 20 for the full weekend schedule, including 26 Featured Tellers over 8 different venues!
Time
Event
Tellers
Venue
Time:
7:30 - 9:00 pm
Event:
Donald Davis – Women Who Raised Me, Chapter One
Tellers:
Donald Davis
Venue:
Library Tent
Library Tent
Tellers:
Donald DavisDescription:
A Pre-Festival Concert featuring Donald Davis at the Library Tent, Grounds of the National Storytelling Festival. Women Who Raised Me, Chapter One In my childhood, I had way more than one mama. Meet Miss Annie and Miss Rosemary, who poured a lot of their lives and love into me – deserved or not! Separate ticket required, $20 all ages. For tickets or information call 800-952-8392 or Buy Now! Visit Donald’s website.
Time
Event
Tellers
Venue
Time:
9:00 - 12:00 pm
Event:
Susan O’Halloran – Speaking without Preaching
Tellers:
Susan O'Halloran
Venue:
International Storytelling Center
International Storytelling Center
Tellers:
Susan O'HalloranDescription:
Speaking Without Preaching How do you speak without sounding too opinionated or downright boring? Learn how to combine education and entertainment into stories that respect, enlighten, and emotionally move your audience. Topics include: influencing your audience in an uplifting way; avoiding lecturing; getting the tone right; developing rapport; and adding the crucial element of humor. Perfect for organizational leaders, ministers, and storytellers of all experience levels. Susan O’Halloran is a story consultant to Fortune 500 as well as nonprofi t organizations, and has appeared on PBS, ABC Nightline, and in The New York Times.
Time:
1:00 - 5:00 pm
Event:
Dan Hoyle – Intro to Journalistic Performance
Tellers:
Dan Hoyle
Venue:
International Storytelling Center
International Storytelling Center
Tellers:
Dan HoyleDescription:
Intro to Journalistic Performance Dan Hoyle’s brand of journalistic performance has been hailed as “riveting, funny and poignant” by the New York Times. You’ll get an introduction to his process and participate in writing and physical movement exercises in this dynamic workshop with the award-winning writer, actor and former Fulbright scholar. Topics will include the journalism of hanging out, physical character creation, and the creative process. Appropriate for beginning or experienced storytellers and writers who are developing character pieces. Hoyle has toured his solo shows and led workshops across the country and abroad.
Time:
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Event:
Regi Carpenter – Getting to Grief: Storytelling in Bereavement
Tellers:
Regi Carpenter
Venue:
International Storytelling Center
International Storytelling Center
Tellers:
Regi CarpenterDescription:
Getting to Grief: Storytelling in Bereavement Improve your ability to support adults or children coping with loss in this interactive and informative workshop. Appropriate for therapists, hospice workers, clergy, bereavement counselors, social workers, and family and friends of those grieving the death of a loved one. Carpenter is the founder of Stories with Spirit, a creative initiative dedicated to bringing stories of hope to palliative care patients, families, and caregivers. She also trains medical professionals in the use of stories as narrative medicine.
Time:
7:30 - 9:00 pm
Event:
Jeanne Robertson – PreFestival Concert
Tellers:
Jeanne Robertson
Venue:
Library Tent
Library Tent
Tellers:
Jeanne RobertsonDescription:
Jeanne Robertson
Thursday, October 3 · 7:30 p.m. Tickets $20 A Special Performance in the Library Tent, tickets sold at Festival Registration or at the Concert. The National Storytelling Festival welcomes award winning humorist Jeanne Robertson. Make your plans now to hear nationally-known humorist Jeanne Robertson, who will appear in a pre-festival concert on Thursday evening, October 3rd. Jeanne has been featured on CBS's 60 Minutes, performed at the White House, and can be heard daily on Sirius XM Radio's Laugh USA. For tickets or information call 800-952-8392 or Buy Now! Visit Jeanne's website. -Sponsored by Carnegie Hotel
Time
Event
Tellers
Venue
Time:
10:00 - 11:59 pm
Event:
National Storytelling Festival
Tellers:
TBD
Venue:
Description:
The 47th annual National Storytelling Festival is October 4 – 6, 2019.
Time:
8:00 - 9:30 pm
Event:
Dan Hoyle – Border People
Tellers:
Dan Hoyle
Venue:
International Storytelling Center
International Storytelling Center
Tellers:
Dan HoyleDescription:
Border People Tickets sold separately: $20 Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall, International Storytelling Center Friday, October 4 · 8 pm Saturday, October 5 · 8 pm - Adult Content · Limited Seating Award-winning actor and playwright Dan Hoyle embodies 11 residents of various borders — geographic, cultural, religious, psychic, and racial — each based on Hoyle’s conversations with immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and border crossers of all kinds. "The show," says the San Francisco Chronicle, "is a testament to the courage and commitment to self that you have to have to live on the border, any sort of border, and be able to tell your truth about it." A gifted actor. So transformative and empathetic.Enthralling, sometimes heartbreaking, more often funny. Deeply moving. — SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
Time:
8:00 - 9:30 pm
Event:
Ghost Stories
Tellers:
Various Tellers
Venue:
Mill Spring Park
Mill Spring Park
Description:
A beloved Festival tradition, two nights of fright await you in these open-air ghost story concerts featuring a different collection of haunting tales each night. Guest tellers and Festival veterans Charlotte Blake Alston and Dan Keding join other featured tellers on the Ghost Story Stage on both Friday and Saturday. Charlotte Blake Alston has performed in venues throughout North America and abroad, including the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Women of the World Festival in South Africa. She is a recipient of the NSN ORACLE Circle of Excellence award, the Pew Fellowship in the Arts, and the Zora Neale Hurston award. Dan Keding is well-known for his telling of personal narratives, ghost stories, world folktales, and superbly crafted original pieces. He has performed across the world, including festivals in England, Ireland and Canada. Keding’s numerous awards include the NSN ORACLE Storytelling Circle of Excellence Award. Stories at 8 p.m. each night in any kind of weather. It’s ground seating only, so remember to bring your blankets. Ghost story concerts are not recommended for children under 6. Tickets available at Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall, at registration, and at the gate.
Time:
10:30 - 12:00 am
Event:
Midnight Cabaret
Tellers:
Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton - Midnight Cabaret Teller
Venue:
College Street Tent
College Street Tent
Description:
Joyful Noise and the Low-Down Blues Tickets sold separately. Not recommended for children. Although only 30 years old, Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton has earned a reputation for transporting audiences back to the 1920s and making them wish they could stay there for good. An amazing multi-instrumentalist — he plays banjo, guitar, piano, fiddle, harmonica, Cajun accordion, and the bones — his ability to transform traditional jazz, blues, folk, and country into the here and now, coupled with his humor and storytelling, make for a uniquely exciting evening. Paxton was featured on CNN’s “Great Big Story” and appeared in the award-winning music documentary “American Epic” produced by Robert Redford, Jack White, and T-Bone Burnett. “It’s not uncommon for his audiences to whoop, holler, and stomp in unison — hard enough to shake the door. Paxton shifts from piano to guitar to fiddle to a five-string banjo that looks like he time-traveled to the 1920s, stole it from a juke joint, and dropped it on the ground a few times on the way back.” —The Village Voice
Time
Event
Tellers
Venue
Time:
10:00 - 11:59 pm
Event:
National Storytelling Festival
Tellers:
TBD
Venue:
Description:
The 47th annual National Storytelling Festival is October 4 – 6, 2019.
Time:
10:30 - 12:00 am
Event:
Midnight Cabaret
Tellers:
Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton - Midnight Cabaret Teller
Venue:
College Street Tent
College Street Tent
Description:
Joyful Noise and the Low-Down Blues Tickets sold separately. Not recommended for children. Although only 30 years old, Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton has earned a reputation for transporting audiences back to the 1920s and making them wish they could stay there for good. An amazing multi-instrumentalist — he plays banjo, guitar, piano, fiddle, harmonica, Cajun accordion, and the bones — his ability to transform traditional jazz, blues, folk, and country into the here and now, coupled with his humor and storytelling, make for a uniquely exciting evening. Paxton was featured on CNN’s “Great Big Story” and appeared in the award-winning music documentary “American Epic” produced by Robert Redford, Jack White, and T-Bone Burnett. “It’s not uncommon for his audiences to whoop, holler, and stomp in unison — hard enough to shake the door. Paxton shifts from piano to guitar to fiddle to a five-string banjo that looks like he time-traveled to the 1920s, stole it from a juke joint, and dropped it on the ground a few times on the way back.” —The Village Voice
Time:
8:00 - 9:30 pm
Event:
Dan Hoyle – Border People
Tellers:
Dan Hoyle
Venue:
International Storytelling Center
International Storytelling Center
Tellers:
Dan HoyleDescription:
Border People Tickets sold separately: $20 Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall, International Storytelling Center Friday, October 4 · 8 pm Saturday, October 5 · 8 pm - Adult Content · Limited Seating Award-winning actor and playwright Dan Hoyle embodies 11 residents of various borders — geographic, cultural, religious, psychic, and racial — each based on Hoyle’s conversations with immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and border crossers of all kinds. "The show," says the San Francisco Chronicle, "is a testament to the courage and commitment to self that you have to have to live on the border, any sort of border, and be able to tell your truth about it." A gifted actor. So transformative and empathetic.Enthralling, sometimes heartbreaking, more often funny. Deeply moving. — SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
Time:
8:00 - 9:30 pm
Event:
Ghost Stories
Tellers:
Various Tellers
Venue:
Mill Spring Park
Mill Spring Park
Description:
A beloved Festival tradition, two nights of fright await you in these open-air ghost story concerts featuring a different collection of haunting tales each night. Guest tellers and Festival veterans Charlotte Blake Alston and Dan Keding join other featured tellers on the Ghost Story Stage on both Friday and Saturday. Charlotte Blake Alston has performed in venues throughout North America and abroad, including the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Women of the World Festival in South Africa. She is a recipient of the NSN ORACLE Circle of Excellence award, the Pew Fellowship in the Arts, and the Zora Neale Hurston award. Dan Keding is well-known for his telling of personal narratives, ghost stories, world folktales, and superbly crafted original pieces. He has performed across the world, including festivals in England, Ireland and Canada. Keding’s numerous awards include the NSN ORACLE Storytelling Circle of Excellence Award. Stories at 8 p.m. each night in any kind of weather. It’s ground seating only, so remember to bring your blankets. Ghost story concerts are not recommended for children under 6. Tickets available at Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall, at registration, and at the gate.
Time
Event
Tellers
Venue
Time:
10:00 - 11:59 pm
Event:
National Storytelling Festival
Tellers:
TBD
Venue: