National Storytelling Festival is back to celebrate one of Jonesborough's favorite pastimes

For one weekend each fall, Jonesborough gets louder, more crowded and a whole lot more talkative. Five large tents rise over downtown, storytellers fill stages and theaters throughout town, strangers strike up conversations about performances they have just seen and thousands of people gather for something remarkably simple: listening to one another tell stories. The National Storytelling Festival returns to Jonesborough this October, continuing a tradition that began in 1973 and helped establish the town as the "Storytelling Capital of the World." "If you've never been to the National Storytelling Festival, expect something unlike any other festival you've attended," said Krystal Hawkins, director of programs for the International Storytelling Center. "For three days, downtown Jonesborough becomes a gathering place for thousands of people who come together for a common purpose: to listen to great stories." More than 30 of the country's finest storytellers, along with artists from around the world, will take the stage this year, offering traditional tales, history, tall tales, personal experiences and spoken-word performances set to music. This year's festival is connect to America's 250th anniversary, bringing stories of the nation's history and identity into the weekend's programming. Pippa White will share stories of Ellis Island, while Rev. Robert B. Jones will present his History of Music. The festival's Legacy Series will feature FDNY Battalion Chief Joseph Pfeifer, who will share his firsthand experience coordinating rescue efforts at Ground Zero following the Sept. 11 attacks. "These stories help us collectively understand where we come from, how far we've come, and who we want to be," Hawkins said. For Hawkins, however, some of the most anticipated moments are the traditions that have become inseparable from the festival itself. The Swappin' Ground will once again give attendees an opportunity to share stories themselves. The Jonesborough Novelty Band will lead its annual sing-along in the Dinner Tent, while Ghost Stories will return to Mill Spring Park, a tradition that originally took place in the Old Jonesborough Cemetery. "And then the train whistles stealing the show at the Courthouse Tent!" Hawkins said. "They're part of what makes the Festival feel like the Festival." Those traditions are only part of what visitors encounter. With general admission seating spread among the five downtown tents, attendees can choose which performances they want to hear and move throughout town as the weekend unfolds. Ghost Stories, After Hours, Thursday workshops and theater events require separate tickets. "You'll hear stories everywhere — from the big tents to smaller theaters and open spaces throughout the entire town," Hawkins said. The festival experience also happens between performances, with families returning year after year, newcomers discovering the art form and strangers sharing meals and their thoughts about the stories they have heard. "You just have to be willing to listen, laugh and be surprised," Hawkins said. "We hope you'll leave with a few stories of your own to tell." For Jonesborough Mayor Kelly Wolfe, the festival's importance goes well beyond the economic boost created by thousands of visitors. In the 1970s, Wolfe said, town leaders including Jimmy Neil Smith, the founder of the International Storytelling Center, recognized the need for events throughout the year that would promote tourism and economic vitality. What they created, however, became something much larger. "They created some cultural touchstones that are important to this day as to our identity as a community," Wolfe said. Storytelling fit naturally into a community with deep Appalachian roots, where stories and history were passed orally from one generation to another. "Before the written word, all history was oral," Wolfe said. "In the Appalachian mountain regions, even up until not too long ago, so many of the things that define the culture of the area were handed down orally between different generations of family members." Wolfe remembers hearing legendary Appalachian storyteller Ray Hicks when he was a child, an experience that connected him to the region's storytelling tradition. That connection remains visible every October when the tents go up and downtown Jonesborough becomes a temporary home for thousands of listeners. "It wouldn't be fall, and it wouldn't be the first weekend of October without storytelling in Jonesborough," Wolfe said. Hawkins believes that enduring appeal comes from something deeper than entertainment. "Storytelling is important to Jonesborough because it has become part of who we are as a creative community," she said. "But storytelling as an art form reaches far beyond Northeast Tennessee." Stories preserve history and traditions, but they also create human connection. "At its heart, storytelling is about connection," Hawkins said. "Long before we had books, movies or social media, people told stories to make sense of the world. That basic human need hasn't changed." And while the National Storytelling Festival is the International Storytelling Center's biggest and most visible event, Hawkins said the center's work continues throughout the year through schools, community organizations, workshops and efforts to preserve cultural traditions. "The Festival gives us a chance to celebrate storytelling on a grand scale," Hawkins said, "but our larger goal is to help people experience the power of stories in their everyday lives, all year long." For more than five decades, Jonesborough has made room for stories — and for the people willing to sit down, listen and carry them forward. As the tents return this fall, the town once again becomes what it has become known for: a place where stories are not simply told, but shared, remembered and passed along.