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Texas Storytelling Youth Olympics
Each month throughout the year you can enjoy hearing and telling stories in San Antonio and the rest of Texas. For special events not listed on this calendar, please check the most recent issue of our Do Tell newsletter.
San Antonio Storyteller Association:
The guild meets on the third Tuesday of each month in the third floor meeting room of the San Antonio Central Library, 600 Soledad, from 6:30 until 9:00 p.m. Meetings consist of three parts: (1)brief business reports; (2) a mini-workshop by one of our members on some aspect of the storytellers craft (finding stories, using a microphone, practicing stories, etc.); and (3) story swapping. Members and guests listen and tell a wide range of stories, often for practice or in anticipation of an upcoming event. Meetings are open to the public; those who wish to join SASA, receive the newsletter, and support storytelling in San Antonio may do so by paying annual dues of $15.
Stories Galore at Commanders House
Stories Galore at the Commanders House occurs regularly on the third Sunday of each month, with some variations. For most of the decade, Elder Stone has hosted monthly "open mike" story swaps for both seasoned storytellers and newcomers to the craft. Elder is always on the lookout for a good story appropriate for all ages, though the attendance is generally adult. Sessions consist of open-mike storytelling, a "stump the storyteller game" whereby one guest challenges the rest to tell a story containing a particular word, and a half-hour concert by a "Stellar Teller" of the month.
January, in recent years, has brought a preview performance by one of the Texas Storytelling Festival featured tellers in a concert and workshop in Denton. These are scheduled on a Friday and Saturday.
The Texas Storytelling Youth Olympics, formerly held in October, has been moved to January at the Institute of Texan Cultures. Students from 2nd grade to 8th grade are invited to bring a 2- to 7- minute story for this "gentle competition" judged by SASA members and other area storytellers.
A January-February series for classes is Midwinter Tales held on Wednesday morning for six weeks near the beginning of the spring semester. Six different storytellers tell the tales of six different cultures at 10:45 at the Institute of Texan Cultures.
In February, you can load up and cross the Red River to take in concerts and workshops at WinterTales in Oklahoma City. One of the highlights of that festival is the workshop in which all four featured tellers tell the same story, each in his or her own style.
Or you can stay closer to home in February and go to concerts and workshops at the Tejas Hispanic Storytelling Festival in Austin.
The Squatty Pines Storytelling Festival truly is "going to camp" at Camp Tyler with a bunch of storytellers for a weekend of concerts and workshops. Always the first weekend in March, it's worth the trip just for the food and fellowship and beautiful setting--not to mention great stories and music.
Mid March brings the National Irish Storytelling Festival at the Cibolo Nature Center in Boerne, a fun-for-all-ages event on a Saturday near March 17. Why is this homelike family day called "national" Why not?
Toward the end of March comes the Texas Storytelling Festival in Denton. Three or four featured tellers are joined by outstanding Texas tellers for four days of concerts and workshops in big tents in Civic Center Park.
Two spring events occurring in March or April are the West Texas A&M Storytelling Festival in Canyon and the Texas Folklore Society Annual Meeting. The latter is always the Thursday, Friday and Saturday before Easter.
Houston's Patchwork Storytelling Festival offers a weekend of concerts and workshops in April or May on the campus of Houston Baptist University. It is sometimes held in conjunction with the Houston Liars' Contest, a perennial favorite event.
James Ford's Tiger Tales is always the first Saturday in June in Houston, but be sure to show up the Friday night before to eat gumbo and hear the "gumbo teller."
Also in June is the Texas Folklife Festival in San Antonio with its own storytelling stage.
In July you can go to the Texas Storytelling Conference and/or the National Storytelling Conference. These conferences rotate among cities in the state or nation and are focused mostly on workshops.
Hear the Voices in the Wind Festival produced by the Storytellers of the High Plains at their September storytelling festival in Canyon. The Friday night concert is in Palo Duro Canyon, and the Saturday workshops and concerts are on the West Texas A&M University campus.
The first weekend in October is given over to the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tenn. Not exactly a drive-to event (unless you want to spend two or three days on the road), it is, nevertheless, a must-see experience at least once in your life.
Many are the spooky stories filling the air in October, and one perennial favorite is held at the Bastrop Opera House on the Saturday night before Halloween.
George West claims to be the "storytelling capital of Texas," and George West Storyfest sets up every year on the courthouse square. Always the first Saturday in November, this festival is free, although there is a fund-raiser chuckwagon dinner the Friday evening before.
Also in November are Straight from the Heart concerts and workshops in Denton, and storytelling at the Texas Book Festival.
A special national event each November on the weekend before Thanksgiving is Tellabration. A number of local guilds including SASA hold their peak concert of the year on the Saturday night, and several nearby communities have their own Tellabration on Friday evening.
The Celebration of Light Storytelling Festival in Midland takes place on the first Saturday in December. Held in the Methodist church there, it features Donald Davis and Rex Ellis every year plus other well-known tellers for a day of workshops and concerts.
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