Annual Storytelling Festival is underway in Jonesborough

Published 4:47 pm Sunday, October 9, 2022

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JONESBOROUGH — The 50th Annual Storytelling Festival is underway this weekend in Jonesborough.
Featured tellers will include such familiar names as Connie Reagan-Blake, Bill Lepp, Donald Davis, Elizabeth Ellis, Jay O’Callahan, and the not so familiar names of Carmen Deedy, Jeff Doyle, Chuna McIntyre, Charlotte Blake Alston, Peter Chand, Noa Baum, Sarah Brady, Raymond Christian, ghost storytellers, Simon Brooks and Lynette Ford, Bill Harley, Josh Gofoth, Kevin Kling, Dolores Hydock, Brigid Reedy, and Motoko.
Performances, old times will not want to miss is the storytelling session from 4 to 5 p.m. today featuring Connie Regan-Blake “From Another Time, Celebrating Ray Hicks.”
One of the most recognizable storytellers in the festival’s 50-year history, Ray Hicks honed his craft in a North Carolina cabin without electricity. In 1973, he came down the mountain to Jonesborough bearing old-world gifts that continue to enrich our modern lives. Learn how Ray became the face of traditional Appalachian Mountain storytelling, along with Connie’s journey and reflections on her long friendship with his family.
Donald Davis will be featured from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. today. For the festival’s 50th year, the man in the bowtie will share his cherished memories and life lessons learned from beloved colleagues like Kathryn Wyndham and Jackie Torrence.
If you can’t join the festival in Jonesborough, you can still experience two dozen hours of world-class storytelling from the comfort of your own home. The virtual version of the 2022 National Storytelling Festival begins Friday, Oct. 28, and you’ll have two weeks to take it all in.

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