October 2-4, 2026

Join us in Jonesborough, Tennessee, on October 2-4, 2026, for the 53rd National Storytelling Festival. Since 1973, the National Storytelling Festival has been the premier storytelling event in the United States, hosting international voices from the storytelling capital of the world. 

Countdown to the Festival

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Thank you to our sponsors

2026 Friends of the Festival

Ballad Health

Virginia Buhr

Dr. Art & Charlotte Ellis 

David Gooch

Carl & Vicki Russell

Harry & Natalie Norris

John & Joy Bolt

Henry & Flora Joy

In Memory of Felix Guignard

Ed & Maria Ward

Joseph & Linda Calamari 

Matthew & Karen Clark 

Jaye Jones

Kent & Kathy Taylor

Carole & Foye Webb

Corinne Stavish

In Memory of Lucy & Louie Gump

Drs. Glynda & David Ramsey

Phillip Doriot

Judith Petersen

Nancy Rhea

Anne Reel

The Huntress Family

Holly McEntee & Dr. Eric Sandgren

Sam & Erin Rosolina

Erick & Ellen Herrin

John Noel

Carol & Bobby Frist

Carolyn Thiedke, MD & Fred Thompson III

Rose Marie Burris

DoubleTree by Hilton, Johnson City

Gary & Barbara Duerk

Barbara O. Cox

Mary Jo & Randy Smrekar

Anne Jellison & Richard Celio

Wendy Talley

Gayle Brown

Dwight Mitchell Insurance Agency, Inc

Donald & Trish Davis

Lynda Wexler


Storyteller Circle of Support

Jennifer Munro

Regi Carpenter

Jennifer Armstrong

Dolores Hydock

Corinne Stavish

Barbara McBride-Smith

Megan Hicks

Bill Harley

Sue O’Halloran

Donald Davis

Ed Stivender

Andy Offutt Irwin

Elizabeth Ellis

Steve Daut