Timpanogos Storytelling Festival
Encyclopedia
The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival takes place Labor Day
weekend at the end of each summer in Orem, Utah
. The main festival and its smaller cousin, the Timpanogos Storytelling Midwinter Conference, draw a combined attendance of about 26,000 people each year, making it the largest storytelling festival
in the western United States. The festival typically lasts two days and invites professional storytellers from throughout the United States.
The bulk of the summer festival is held in the Mount Timpanogos Park, a 44 acres (178,061.8 m²) park designed in part to accommodate the needs of the festival. The park is approximately one mile up Provo Canyon
, and sits at the foot of Mount Timpanogos
. Laughing Night, the final event of the festival, is usually performed at the SCERA Shell, an outdoor amphitheater where the audience sits on a large, sloped lawn around a central stage.
2009 was the 20th anniversary of the Festival. It was held September 3–5, 2009.
Storytellers included Donald Davis, David Holt, Bil Lepp, Carmen Deedy, Charlotte Blake-Alston, Syd Leiberman, Connie Regan-Blake, Barbara McBride Smith, John McCutcheon, Bill Harley, Heather Forest and Angela Lloyd.
Artist James C. Christensen, who created the paintings Tales Beneath Timp (also known as Once Upon a Time) and Tales Beyond Timp, both featuring a character known as "The Storyteller," created a new Storyteller painting for the occasion. He was also available for autographs.
In addition to the daytime activities held at Mt. Timpanogos Park in Provo Canyon
on Friday and Saturday, there will be public performances in the evenings, such as "Look Who's Talking, "Bedtime Stories," "My Favorite Stories" and "Laughin' Night." Before the main Festival begins, attendees may also attend storytelling workshops held on Thursday morning and afternoon at the Orem Public Library, given by four of the featured storytellers. These workshops are registered separately from other Festival events, but will enhance the listener's understanding and enjoyment of Festival storytelling.
She went to the National Festival expecting to find ladies telling stories to children in a library. Instead she found thousands of adults crowding into tents, listening to dynamic performers relating tales of history, culture, folk and family life, as well as magical stories of “what if . . .!” The entire town of Jonesborough
(population 3,000) had mobilized to accommodate the 10,000+ people who annually attend the three-day festival.
Mrs. Ashton recognized in the storytelling festival the idea she was searching for. A festival brings people together and increases understanding by allowing them to communicate through stories. It fosters the simple, old community and family values—family members and neighbors talking with each other again, sharing family history and experiences. A storytelling festival is an active experience, not passive entertainment.
The Beginning-The Friends launched the first Timpanogos Storytelling Festival just eight months after Mrs. Ashton presented the idea. The Ashton family opened their home to the community, set up performance areas on their property, and persuaded neighbors to do the same. Livestock was moved, fields mowed, and tents raised. Three Eastern storytellers of national fame and local talent including James Arrington
, Marvin Payne, and Gaye Beeson performed for two incredible days.
News of the Festival spread rapidly. By the second year the Friends had expanded the hours of the Festival, planned an additional evening performance at http://www.scera.org/contents/view/16/scera_shell.html, borrowed another field for a fourth performance tent, and invited school groups to the Friday morning performances. Five of the best storytellers in the nation were on the program, and auditions had been held to determine the successful regional tellers. Acoustic musicians performed during the intermissions throughout the day, supplementing performances by storytellers on the fiddle, banjo, harmonica, and spoons.
Now-The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival has grown each year—in both audience size and prestige. Attendance at annual Festival events total 26,000 and the Festival is recognized throughout the national storytelling world as a standard setter. The Festival and its organizers have received national media attention and awards. Storytelling event organizers from around the nation attend the Timpanogos Festival for training. The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival has garnered this reputation not only because of the great talent featured, but also because of the scenic setting, the terrific audience, the extraordinary community support, and its excellence in organization.
In 1999, the National Storytelling Network honored Karen Ashton with the Leadership Award in recognition of her exemplary leadership and significant contributions to the community through storytelling. In the same year, the Utah Storytelling Guild (spawned by the Festival and now supporting the Festival) received the National Storytelling Network Service Award. Janet Low, Festival Coordinator, was awarded the Service Award in 2000 and Debi Richan, Festival Vice-President, received this national award in 2004.
The Festival draws individuals and groups from across the nation and Canada. The Utah Valley Visitors Center provides material on attractions and accommodations in Utah County to ticket-buyers living outside of Utah and Salt Lake Counties. Families spend vacations in Utah, planned around the Timpanogos Festival. The reputation of the area has spread—even the national storytellers bring their families to spend additional time enjoying the scenery and attractions of Utah County.
The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival has become the “National Festival of the West.” It will preserve through stories, music and art, the memories of Utah and the West while creating a forum to explore cultures beyond the West.
In 2005, the Festival opened at the new Mt. Timpanogos Park in Provo Canyon. Designed by the City of Orem for the annual Festival, the park allows Festival growth to continue with more and larger performance tents.
The Timpanogos Festival is not a small event. It requires significant donations from businesses and foundations and thousands of volunteer hours from individuals and community groups such as the American Legion, Kiwanis, Golden Kiwanis, youth groups, student clubs, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and the Utah Storytelling Guild.
Considering all the work involved with organizing an annual Festival, Karen Ashton commented, "If just one family leaves the Festival and begins to share stories with each other, it will be worth it."
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
weekend at the end of each summer in Orem, Utah
Orem, Utah
Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the north-central part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is about south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal cities of the Provo-Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Utah and...
. The main festival and its smaller cousin, the Timpanogos Storytelling Midwinter Conference, draw a combined attendance of about 26,000 people each year, making it the largest storytelling festival
Storytelling festival
A storytelling festival is often an annual event that features local, regional and/or nationally known oral storytellers. Each storyteller will have a scheduled amount of time to share a story with an audience...
in the western United States. The festival typically lasts two days and invites professional storytellers from throughout the United States.
The bulk of the summer festival is held in the Mount Timpanogos Park, a 44 acres (178,061.8 m²) park designed in part to accommodate the needs of the festival. The park is approximately one mile up Provo Canyon
Provo Canyon
Provo Canyon is a canyon located in unincorporated Utah County, Utah, USA and Wasatch County, Utah. Provo Canyon splits between Mount Timpanogos on the north and Mount Cascade on the south. The canyon extends from Orem on the west end to Heber City on the east. The canyon's main thoroughfare is...
, and sits at the foot of Mount Timpanogos
Mount Timpanogos
Mount Timpanogos, sometimes informally referred to as Timp, is the second highest mountain in Utah's Wasatch Range. Timpanogos rises to an elevation of 11,749 feet above sea level in the Uinta National Forest...
. Laughing Night, the final event of the festival, is usually performed at the SCERA Shell, an outdoor amphitheater where the audience sits on a large, sloped lawn around a central stage.
2009 was the 20th anniversary of the Festival. It was held September 3–5, 2009.
Storytellers included Donald Davis, David Holt, Bil Lepp, Carmen Deedy, Charlotte Blake-Alston, Syd Leiberman, Connie Regan-Blake, Barbara McBride Smith, John McCutcheon, Bill Harley, Heather Forest and Angela Lloyd.
Artist James C. Christensen, who created the paintings Tales Beneath Timp (also known as Once Upon a Time) and Tales Beyond Timp, both featuring a character known as "The Storyteller," created a new Storyteller painting for the occasion. He was also available for autographs.
About the Festival
The largest storytelling festival in the West - the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival - held every year in Orem, Utah at the close of August. Some of the nation's best known storytellers unite with other tellers, both young and old, for two all-day celebrations of music, merriment, but mostly stories.In addition to the daytime activities held at Mt. Timpanogos Park in Provo Canyon
Provo Canyon
Provo Canyon is a canyon located in unincorporated Utah County, Utah, USA and Wasatch County, Utah. Provo Canyon splits between Mount Timpanogos on the north and Mount Cascade on the south. The canyon extends from Orem on the west end to Heber City on the east. The canyon's main thoroughfare is...
on Friday and Saturday, there will be public performances in the evenings, such as "Look Who's Talking, "Bedtime Stories," "My Favorite Stories" and "Laughin' Night." Before the main Festival begins, attendees may also attend storytelling workshops held on Thursday morning and afternoon at the Orem Public Library, given by four of the featured storytellers. These workshops are registered separately from other Festival events, but will enhance the listener's understanding and enjoyment of Festival storytelling.
History
The Idea-In 1989, Karen Ashton, President of the Friends of the Orem Public Library, was looking for projects to promote community involvement in the Library. Mrs. Ashton had been volunteering at the Library for years, presenting Storytime for preschoolers and helping with other Children's Library programs. When she saw an advertisement for a National Storytelling Festival in Tennessee, she decided to attend and gather more ideas for stories and programs for the Orem Library.She went to the National Festival expecting to find ladies telling stories to children in a library. Instead she found thousands of adults crowding into tents, listening to dynamic performers relating tales of history, culture, folk and family life, as well as magical stories of “what if . . .!” The entire town of Jonesborough
Jonesborough, Tennessee
Jonesborough is a town in and the county seat of Washington County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The population was 4,168 at the 2000 census...
(population 3,000) had mobilized to accommodate the 10,000+ people who annually attend the three-day festival.
Mrs. Ashton recognized in the storytelling festival the idea she was searching for. A festival brings people together and increases understanding by allowing them to communicate through stories. It fosters the simple, old community and family values—family members and neighbors talking with each other again, sharing family history and experiences. A storytelling festival is an active experience, not passive entertainment.
The Beginning-The Friends launched the first Timpanogos Storytelling Festival just eight months after Mrs. Ashton presented the idea. The Ashton family opened their home to the community, set up performance areas on their property, and persuaded neighbors to do the same. Livestock was moved, fields mowed, and tents raised. Three Eastern storytellers of national fame and local talent including James Arrington
James Arrington
James Arrington is an American stage actor, director, playwright and scholar. His plays are about the people or the culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....
, Marvin Payne, and Gaye Beeson performed for two incredible days.
News of the Festival spread rapidly. By the second year the Friends had expanded the hours of the Festival, planned an additional evening performance at http://www.scera.org/contents/view/16/scera_shell.html, borrowed another field for a fourth performance tent, and invited school groups to the Friday morning performances. Five of the best storytellers in the nation were on the program, and auditions had been held to determine the successful regional tellers. Acoustic musicians performed during the intermissions throughout the day, supplementing performances by storytellers on the fiddle, banjo, harmonica, and spoons.
Now-The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival has grown each year—in both audience size and prestige. Attendance at annual Festival events total 26,000 and the Festival is recognized throughout the national storytelling world as a standard setter. The Festival and its organizers have received national media attention and awards. Storytelling event organizers from around the nation attend the Timpanogos Festival for training. The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival has garnered this reputation not only because of the great talent featured, but also because of the scenic setting, the terrific audience, the extraordinary community support, and its excellence in organization.
In 1999, the National Storytelling Network honored Karen Ashton with the Leadership Award in recognition of her exemplary leadership and significant contributions to the community through storytelling. In the same year, the Utah Storytelling Guild (spawned by the Festival and now supporting the Festival) received the National Storytelling Network Service Award. Janet Low, Festival Coordinator, was awarded the Service Award in 2000 and Debi Richan, Festival Vice-President, received this national award in 2004.
The Festival draws individuals and groups from across the nation and Canada. The Utah Valley Visitors Center provides material on attractions and accommodations in Utah County to ticket-buyers living outside of Utah and Salt Lake Counties. Families spend vacations in Utah, planned around the Timpanogos Festival. The reputation of the area has spread—even the national storytellers bring their families to spend additional time enjoying the scenery and attractions of Utah County.
The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival has become the “National Festival of the West.” It will preserve through stories, music and art, the memories of Utah and the West while creating a forum to explore cultures beyond the West.
In 2005, the Festival opened at the new Mt. Timpanogos Park in Provo Canyon. Designed by the City of Orem for the annual Festival, the park allows Festival growth to continue with more and larger performance tents.
The Timpanogos Festival is not a small event. It requires significant donations from businesses and foundations and thousands of volunteer hours from individuals and community groups such as the American Legion, Kiwanis, Golden Kiwanis, youth groups, student clubs, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and the Utah Storytelling Guild.
Considering all the work involved with organizing an annual Festival, Karen Ashton commented, "If just one family leaves the Festival and begins to share stories with each other, it will be worth it."