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20 Years of Storytelling Swatches
Stories abound at the Storytelling Festival each year, and I’m not talking about the tellers. While I was in the Courthouse Tent listening to Corinne Stavish, I took a moment to look around at the crowd. The tent was filled with sixteen hundred people. It occurred to me that those sixteen hundred people were all listening to the same story, but they were all listening for sixteen hundred different reasons.
Storytelling Town Will Leave You Yearning for Yesteryear
They say the best form of advertising is word of mouth, and this proved to be true when I heard about the Storytelling Festival from a few of my friends who'd attended in years past. The festival brings together storytellers from across the globe to share their tall tales, childhood memories, and even ghost stories to audiences who are eager to hear them. As a child, I spent many holidays sitting around my great aunt's kitchen table where the adults took turns swapping stories and sharing their favorite memories, and I loved how the festival preserves this age-old form of entertainment. In between storytelling sessions, I wandered through the quaint little town of Jonesborough where historic buildings line the streets and friendly locals welcomed me inside their shops. I overheard someone say that Jonesborough is the oldest town in Tennessee, and the cozy inns and B&Bs perfectly capture its history. The town made me nostalgic for an era I've never even lived.

Why Jonesborough is the Perfect Backdrop for Storytelling Festival
Its Humble Roots
A hay wagon was pulled in the shadow of the Courthouse in 1973 and a day filled with bbq, live music, and storytelling followed. Its roots are simple, but that’s what’s so beautiful about its foundation.



