Thursday, June 4, 2009

Roswell Magnolia Storytelling Festival


When someone mentions storytelling do you immediately think of the library lady reading a story to an eager group of preschoolers? Let’s see if I can broaden your perspective about storytelling!

Storytelling has roots that go back to the dawn of verbal communication. Stories were used to teach valuable lessons and to pass on culture long before words were written down. In many villages an elder in the village had the valued responsibility to be the teller of tales. Those stories were learned verbatim so that they could be passed down to future generations in their original form. Good speakers, today, use stories in their presentations, knowing that long after their audience forgets the exact opening and closing of the presentation, they will remember the main points of the presentation through the stories.

Each June, folks from throughout the southeastern United States gather in Roswell GA to honor this tradition with performances by nationally-known and regional storytellers. From under a tent on the grounds of historic Bulloch Hall, laughter and applause can be heard as audiences enjoy stories as varied as folk tales, personal stories, and an occasional tall tale. There are almost as many styles of telling stories as there are storytellers. Unless you came for the special Children’s Hour on Friday afternoon, almost the entire audience is adults. Are you getting the idea that stories aren’t just for children???

The Roswell Magnolia Storytelling Festival will be held Friday and Saturday, June 19-20. Workshops will be offered during the day, both days, and a special Mill Village storytelling tour will be offered Saturday morning. Both evenings, telling under the big tent begins around 5:45 pm and goes on until 9 pm. There’s even a ghost tour on Friday night at 9:15 pm.

This year, we are honored to have Sheila Kay Adams, Sheila Klein, and Randel McGee as our featured tellers plus an array of regional tellers and workshop leaders. More information about all of the tellers can be found at www.visitroswellga.com/storytelling-festival-tellers.html

Full registration information and the schedule of events is at www.visitroswellga.com/storytelling.html

For those coming from out of town, our host hotels are listed at the bottom of the registration page. All of our hotels are listed at www.visitroswellga.com/lodging2.html

Come join us and experience storytelling at its best. Warning, hearing great stories is addictive! Most folks come back year after year!