Wow, wow, wow! These are my immediate words to describe the North Carolina Storytelling Guild’s annual storytelling festival held in downtown Brevard, NC on Saturday November 3rd, at the lovely new Transylvania County Public Library. What could be better than a beautiful mountain setting with the surrounding community coming out to support storytelling? When I arrived home the following day I was still floating with excitement.
Being our best festival yet, I wonder, “How can it get any better?” Our featured North Carolina storytellers, Bill Friedman, Dianne Hackworth, Charlotte Hamlin, Janet Harllee, Terry Rollins and Wayne and Jane Sims were well polished in story and in stage presence. And of course Bill Harley, the library’s guest teller, set the tone for the entire day. Bill, otherwise known as “The Garrison Keillor for kids”, received a standing ovation at his last stage appearance on Saturday night, which prompted him to do an encore.
Stories and music carried the audience from laughter, to amazement, to intrigue, to the very poignant moments. Even with a nearly filled auditorium on Saturday evening, I witnessed the silence of the audience during those more serious and breathtaking moments.
If you have never attended a storytelling festival you don’t know what you are missing. Storytelling is for all ages, from the very young to the “young at heart”. The majority of listeners at this festival were adults who seemed to soak up every single minute of it! Check out our North Carolina Storytelling Guild website to learn more - http://www.ncstoryguild.org/
