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The Southern Ohio Storytelling Festival kicks off its 2019 run tomorrow, Thursday, September 5th in downtown Chillicothe.
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This is the 16th year for the event which hosts a variety of speakers, telling stories on a multitude of different topics. Throughout the festival, each storyteller will perform a short segment with an extended performance held each night.
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This year’s storytellers are:
• Andy Offutt Irwin with his silly putty voice, astonishing mouth noises, and hilarious stories is equal parts mischievous schoolboy and the Marx Brothers, peppered with a touch of the Southern balladeer.
• Suzi Whaples is not your average Appalachian teller. Her stories are her own, drawn from her heritage, her unique creations or, occasionally, a new twist on an old classic. She intertwines the poignant, the encouraging, and the flat-out hilarious.
• Sheila Arnold has been a full-time storyteller since 2003, traveling throughout the country sharing her stories, songs and historic character presentations. She is known for her interactive style which often incorporates song into her stories.
• Teri Lott is a retired teacher with thirty years of experience telling tales and known for her trickster tales, Jack tales of sillies and fools, and tales with puppets.
• Gary Buchanan came to storytelling late in life and hails from West Virginia. He is best known for his telling of tales during liar’s contests but is also member of many storytelling guilds and associations.
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The Southern Ohio Storytelling Festival gets underway at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday with a special Preview Concert at the Main Branch of the Chillicothe Ross County Public Library. It’ll provide audience members with a small sample of each storyteller’s style. The festival will then move the Courtyard of the historic Majestic Theatre on Friday and Saturday.
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Throughout the festival, each storyteller will perform a short segment with an extended performance during the evening storytelling concert each night.
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Friday’s line-up includes an evening session of Ghost Stories inside the historic Majestic Theatre. Saturday morning brings an interactive story swapping section with the “New Voices Concert” taking place in the afternoon. The New Voices Concert is a new portion of the festival which will feature individuals selected from a group of submissions to take the stage at this year’s festival.
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For complete details about the storytelling festival and its schedule, and to purchase tickets, please visit the festival’s website: www.SOStoryFest.com. Tickets will also be available at the event. Weekend passes are $20.00, Single Day passes are $10.00 and students get in for $5.00.