The 2022 Florida Storytelling Festival Returns

Florida Storytelling Festival Returns

After a year when just about every storytelling session was virtual, the Florida Storytelling Festival returns in January 2022 with live and in-person events at Mt. Dora’s historic Lakeside Inn.

Once again storytellers and fans of storytelling will gather under the big tent on the shore of Lake Dora.

This year’s line-up includes musician/storyteller Josh Goforth; author and social justice artist Susan O’Halloran; storyteller, musician and podcast producer Rachel Ann Harding; former director The Youthful Voices Program of Florida Storytelling Association Madeline Pots; and Don and Tutu Harrell, founders of the Orisirisi African Folklore which features stories and music inspired by African culture.

These gifted artists will be in concert during the festival which runs Jan. 27 to 30.

The festival also features open mic story swaps that include Thursday night ghost stories at 10 pm; Friday afternoon open swap at 3 pm; Friday swap at 10:15 pm; Saturday afternoon swap at 3 pm; and a themed swap (“Unexpected”) at 10:15 pm Saturday.

This year’s three Fringe storytellers will share stories on Friday night from 9:15 to10 pm. 

The Fringe sessions run simultaneously:

Louise O’Leary will be in the Alexander Room; Katie Green will be in the Grandview Room; Walt Belcher will be in the Donnelly Room.  Each teller offers extended personal stories.

There will be daytime workshops on Friday and Saturday and a closing storytelling cruise on the lake with teller Linda Schuyler Ford.

 

Josh Goforth 

Goforth, who grew up in Appalachia, is a successful Grammy-nominated musician who can play just about any string instrument from fiddle to banjo. Most famous for his fiddling, Goforth is a not only a highly accomplished old-time, bluegrass and swing musician, he’s also a great storyteller.

He weaves in stories of his family and life in his mountain hometown of Sodom, in Monroe County, N.C., a place where “you couldn’t throw a rock with hitting a fiddle player or a banjo player.”

In a recent newspaper interview, Goforth said that he wants to transport the listener into musical history back to the days when folks gathered on the front porch to share stories and music.

“I think of those times when I was doing that, sitting on the porch, hearing my granddad tell stories and singing old songs, we didn’t have a care in the world,” he said.

Orisirisi  African Folklore 

This internationally acclaimed performing arts project was founded in 1986 by husband-and-wife team Don and Tutu Harrell to share the beauty and poignancy of African life and culture,

The South Carolina based couple have performed thousands of times over the past decades including more than 12,000 shows at Disney’s EPCOT Center.

The company has also provided its unique brand of folklore for countless people from a vast array of demographics and cultural backgrounds at primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, festivals, churches, libraries, museums, conferences, corporate and teacher in-services, television and radio programs and special events,

Nigerian-born Adetutu “Tutu” Harrell and music scholar Don Harrell (a graduate of Crown College in London) give spirited performances in colorful costumes.

Tutu is an extraordinarily talented musician, dancer, singer, and storyteller who shares the rich cultural heritage of her ancestry with love that knows no boundaries. 

Don holds a Master of Arts degree in African Studies from UCLA and has completed additional studies at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana. He believes in the usefulness of the arts as tools in positive social change.

Susan O’Halloran 

 Also in concert at this festival is Susan O’Halloran, a noted speaker on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.

 Splitting her time between Florida and Chicago, she has authored seven books, given hundreds of lectures and has been quoted as an expert in racial issues on media outlets from PBS and ABC to The New York Times, Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune.

To sample some of her storytelling check out: Story Artist – Susan O’Halloran (susanohalloran.com)

Rachel Ann Harding 

Rachel Ann Harding, creator of the Story Story Podcast, is a traditional storyteller who is passionate about telling folk, mythical and traditional tales.

She also sings and plays a ukulele to accompany her stories. Her performances have been called “delightful,” “folksy” and “avant garde.”  Based in Boulder, Colo., Rachel Ann believes that fairy tales are for all ages.

She blends story with song to create enchanting tales as well as workshops that entertain and inform adults as well as children.   She is a board member of the Rocky Mountain Storytellers. One of her ambitious projects was a reimagining of Charolette Bronte’s Jane Eyre in a steampunk world,

For more information on Rachel Ann go to: Rachel Ann Harding – Storyteller, Educator, Podcaster

Madeline Pots

Madeline Pots, of Winter Park, who writes and performs stories with musical accompaniment, is active with the Storytellers of Central Florida and the Orlando Story Club where she has twice won the club’s annual Slam Championship.