Timpanogos Storytelling Festival facts for kids
The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival is a super fun event that happens every year at the end of summer. It takes place in Lehi, Utah, around Labor Day weekend. Lots of people, about 26,000, come to listen to amazing stories. It's one of the biggest storytelling festivals in the whole United States!
The festival usually lasts for two days. You can hear professional storytellers from all over the country. Besides the daytime shows on Friday and Saturday, there are special evening performances. These often have cool themes like Look Who's Talking, Bedtime Stories, My Favorite Stories, and Laughing' Night.
How the Festival Started
The idea for the festival began in 1989. A woman named Karen Jackman Ashton was helping out at the Orem Public Library. She was looking for ways to get more people involved with the library. Karen had been volunteering for years, reading stories to young kids and helping with other programs.
One day, she saw an ad for a National Storytelling Festival in Tennessee. She decided to go, hoping to find new ideas for stories and library programs. Karen thought she would see ladies telling stories to children in a quiet library. But she was surprised!
Instead, she found thousands of adults gathered in big tents. They were listening to exciting performers tell all kinds of tales. These stories were about history, different cultures, folk tales, and even magical "what if" stories! The whole town of Jonesborough, which had only about 3,000 people, was busy helping the more than 10,000 visitors who came each year.
Karen realized this was the perfect idea she had been looking for! Just eight months later, the first Timpanogos Storytelling Festival began. Karen's family opened their home and yard for the performances. Their neighbors also helped by letting people use their properties. Three famous storytellers from the East Coast came, along with local talents like James Arrington, Marvin Payne, and Gaye Beeson. They performed for two days.
Growing Bigger and Better
News about the festival spread quickly! By the second year, the festival was even bigger. They added more hours and an extra evening show at the Scera Theater. They also used another field for a fourth performance tent. School groups were invited to come to the Friday morning shows.
Five of the best storytellers in the nation were invited to perform. Local storytellers also had auditions to be part of the program. During breaks, you could hear acoustic musicians playing instruments like the fiddle, banjo, harmonica, and even spoons!
The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival has continued to grow every year. More and more people come, and it has become very well-known. With 26,000 people attending, it's seen as a top storytelling event across the country. Other festival organizers even come to Timpanogos to learn how to run their own events!
The festival is famous not just for its amazing storytellers, but also for its beautiful location. People love the great audience, the strong community support, and how well everything is organized.
In 1999, Karen Ashton received a special Leadership Award for her great work. Other people involved with the festival, like Janet Low and Debi Richan, also received national awards for their service.
In 2005, the festival moved to a new home: Mt. Timpanogos Park in Provo Canyon. This park was designed by the City of Orem especially for the festival. It allowed the festival to keep growing with more and larger performance tents.
Many volunteers and groups help make the festival happen. These include the American Legion, Kiwanis, youth groups, student clubs, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and the Utah Storytelling Guild.
In 2017, the festival moved again to Thanksgiving Point's Ashton Gardens. In 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival was held online. The 33rd festival took place from September 8-10, 2022.
