Tell Me a Story
TaleSpin returns with even more tales and spinners
By Janis Hashe
May 07, 2008
My maternal grandmother was a master storyteller. We always preferred her “made up out of my head” stories to anything prefabricated, and spent years of our childhood listening to tales of “the little Shmoo boy.”
Chattanooga’s own tribute to the art of the storytelling, the TaleSpin festival, returns this weekend for its third year. It showcases storytellers from various walks of life with themes including youth stories, cultural stories, humorous stories, historical stories and more.
Both national storytellers—including Judith Black, Kevin Kling, Bill Harley, Queen Nur, Syd Lieberman and Kathryn Windham—and regional tellers, such as Jim Pfitzer, Donna “Kokomo” Buie, Blessid Ogedegbe, and 7-year-old Noah Lepp, will perform. (Lepp was the winner of the Youth Division of the West Virgina Liars Contest.)
This event will appeal to all ages with a variety of professional storytellers and themes to connect generations and cultures and to convey history, traditions and lessons for living. On Thursday night, May 8, a kickoff event featuring six national storytellers will be held at the Tivoli Theatre. On Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10, Coolidge Park will be the centerpiece for the festival, with telling occurring under festival tents throughout the day followed by a “Nightcap Session” on Friday and ghost stories under the night sky on Saturday evening.
Sunday, May 11, will feature a special Mother’s Day Storytelling Cruise on the Southern Belle riverboat. Merchandise from featured storytellers, resource materials and event memorabilia will be available on Thursday evening at the Tivoli Theatre and throughout the event at Coolidge Park in the Festival Marketplace.
Schedule
Thursday, May 9:
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Stories for K-5 at Coolidge Park
7:30 p.m. Showcase of national storytellers at
the Tivoli
Friday, May 10:
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Stories for K-5 at Coolidge Park
5 to 9 p.m. Storytelling for all ages
9:30 to 11 p.m. Nightcap sessions
Saturday, May 10
11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Storytelling for all ages
9:30 to 11 p.m. Ghost stories
Sunday, May 11
9 to 10:30 a.m. Mother’s Day storytelling/breakfast on the Southern Belle
Tell Me a Story
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