National Storytelling Festival
Encyclopedia
The National Storytelling
Festival is held the first full weekend of October in Jonesborough, Tennessee
at the International Storytelling Center. The National Storytelling Festival was founded by Jimmy Neil Smith, a high school
journalism
teacher in 1973. It has grown over the years to become a major festival both in the United States
and internationally.
, a high school journalism teacher, and a carload of students heard Grand Ole Opry
regular Jerry Clower
spin a tale over the radio about coon
hunting in Mississippi
. Smith was inspired by that event to create a story telling festival in Northeast Tennessee
.
In October 1973, the first National Storytelling Festival was held in Jonesborough, Tennessee. Hay bales and wagons were the stages, and audience and tellers together didn't number more than 60.
Two years after the first festival, Smith founded the National Storytelling Association (NSA), an organization that led America's storytelling renaissance. For almost a quarter of a century, NSA served as the connecting point for this storytelling revival — the momentum behind this ever-widening movement. Today, NSA (now known as the International Storytelling Center) promotes the power of storytelling and the creative applications of this ancient tradition to enrich the human experience in the home, at the workplace, and throughout the world.
. In existence for nearly 40 years, the Festival attracts more than 10,000 audience members to Jonesborough---Tennessee's oldest town---from across the United States and world annually, including school groups whose students attend as an educational experience.
The festival builds on the Appalachia
n cultural tradition of storytelling. Held under circus tents scattered throughout Jonesborough, storytellers sit on stages or at the head of the tent to perform. There are usually five or six tents in close proximity so that festival goers can easily walk from tent to tent and from performance to performance.
Past storytellers include Carmen Agra Deedy
, Jay O'Callahan
, Donald Davis
, Syd Lieberman
, Andy Offutt Irwin
, and Kathryn Tucker Windham
. The festival has expanded to include the growing ranks of Youth Storytellers, including showcasing participants and winners of the National Youth Storytelling Showcase. The festival influenced the development of a storytelling graduate degree program at the nearby East Tennessee State University
. This is the only Master's degree program of its kind.
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
Festival is held the first full weekend of October in Jonesborough, Tennessee
Jonesborough, Tennessee
Jonesborough is a town in and the county seat of Washington County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The population was 4,168 at the 2000 census...
at the International Storytelling Center. The National Storytelling Festival was founded by Jimmy Neil Smith, a high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
teacher in 1973. It has grown over the years to become a major festival both in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and internationally.
History
In 1973, Jimmy Neil SmithJimmy Neil Smith
Jimmy Neil Smith is founder and president of the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, Tennessee.In 1973, Smith, then a local journalism teacher, hosted the first National Storytelling Festival as a way to build regional and national awareness of Jonesborough...
, a high school journalism teacher, and a carload of students heard Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
regular Jerry Clower
Jerry Clower
Howard Gerald "Jerry" Clower was a popular country comedian best known for his stories of the rural South. He was often nicknamed "The Mouth of the South", although this title has also been used for other individuals.Clower began a 2-year stint in the Navy immediately after graduating high school...
spin a tale over the radio about coon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
hunting in Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
. Smith was inspired by that event to create a story telling festival in Northeast Tennessee
East Tennessee
East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
.
In October 1973, the first National Storytelling Festival was held in Jonesborough, Tennessee. Hay bales and wagons were the stages, and audience and tellers together didn't number more than 60.
Two years after the first festival, Smith founded the National Storytelling Association (NSA), an organization that led America's storytelling renaissance. For almost a quarter of a century, NSA served as the connecting point for this storytelling revival — the momentum behind this ever-widening movement. Today, NSA (now known as the International Storytelling Center) promotes the power of storytelling and the creative applications of this ancient tradition to enrich the human experience in the home, at the workplace, and throughout the world.
The Festival
Produced by the International Storytelling Center, the three-day outdoor festival features performances by internationally-known artists and has been hailed “the leading event of its kind in America” by USA TodayUSA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
. In existence for nearly 40 years, the Festival attracts more than 10,000 audience members to Jonesborough---Tennessee's oldest town---from across the United States and world annually, including school groups whose students attend as an educational experience.
The festival builds on the Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
n cultural tradition of storytelling. Held under circus tents scattered throughout Jonesborough, storytellers sit on stages or at the head of the tent to perform. There are usually five or six tents in close proximity so that festival goers can easily walk from tent to tent and from performance to performance.
Past storytellers include Carmen Agra Deedy
Carmen Agra Deedy
Carmen Agra Deedy is an internationally known, award winning author of children’s literature, storyteller and radio contributor. Born in Havana, Cuba, she immigrated to the United States with her family in 1963 after the Cuban Revolution...
, Jay O'Callahan
Jay O'Callahan
Jay O'Callahan is a prominent American storyteller for people of all ages. He has performed at numerous national and international storytelling festivals, in theaters worldwide, and on the radio. He performs almost exclusively material of his own authorship. He has recorded many of his oral...
, Donald Davis
Donald Davis
- Sport :* Don Davis , retired NFL linebacker* Donnie Davis , college and arena league American football player; quarterback* Don Davis , American racecar driver...
, Syd Lieberman
Syd Lieberman
Syd Lieberman is a noted American storyteller who has been telling stories professionally since 1982.He is a frequent performer at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee...
, Andy Offutt Irwin
Andy Offutt Irwin
Andy Offutt Irwin is an American storyteller, arts educator, singer-songwriter and humorist. Born and raised in Covington, Georgia, a small town outside of Atlanta, Irwin began his career in 1984 with an improvisational comedy troupe at Walt Disney World. After five years he shifted to performing...
, and Kathryn Tucker Windham
Kathryn Tucker Windham
Kathryn Tucker Windham was an American storyteller, author, photographer, and journalist. She was born in Selma, Alabama and grew up in nearby Thomasville....
. The festival has expanded to include the growing ranks of Youth Storytellers, including showcasing participants and winners of the National Youth Storytelling Showcase. The festival influenced the development of a storytelling graduate degree program at the nearby East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University is an accredited American university located in Johnson City, Tennessee. It is part of the Tennessee Board of Regents system of colleges and universities, the nation's sixth largest system of public education, and is the fourth largest university in the state...
. This is the only Master's degree program of its kind.
External links
- Festival Index
- National Storytelling Festival begins Friday in Jonesborough by James Brooks for the Times News, September 30, 2007.
- Interview with Connie Regan-Blake on The Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf Show - "A History of the National Storytelling Festival"