Sam Venable
For an evening of chuckles, giggles and belly laughs don’t miss the fourth annual Cumberland Mountain Storytelling Festival on Friday, Oct. 12, and Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Palace Theatre on Main Street in Crossville.
Sam Venable, humor columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel, will keep you laughing as he hosts Friday evening’s performance by Pam Petty of Carthage and Betty and Mike Roe, Crossville’s own professional storytellers. A special appearance by our library’s Suzie Randleman and Quackers the duck will provide a lively opening.
A Friday matinee for students and seniors will find Pam Petty and the Roes warming everyone up for Friday night.
Highlighting the humorous side of storytelling, Sheila Kay Adams of North Carolina will be featured on Saturday evening, and rumor has it that Ms. Adams may pop in at the Friday evening show to do a brief warm-up for her Saturday evening performance. On Saturday afternoon, Ms. Adams will present the Lucille Hofmann Storytelling Workshop, named for our local story lover who has been the impetus behind the entire festival.
The Friday matinee will begin at noon, and both Friday and Saturday evening performances begin at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $12 for adults and $7 for students for the evening performances. Tickets for the Friday matinee is $7for adults, and $1 for students and are on sale at the Palace box office or by calling the Palace at 931 484-6133.
The Saturday afternoon workshop is free and open to any interested adult or high school student.
Sponsors for the Cumberland Mountain Storytelling Festival include Dr. Stewart Galloway and Cumberland Eye Care, the Marketplace Café, and Gwin Realty, and is made possible by funding from the Tennessee Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Cumberland Mountain Storytelling Festival is presented by the Performing Arts Alliance of Rural Tennessee (PAART).
If you would like to try your hand at storytelling, you are welcome to join the newly formed Storytelling Guild. If you have questions, please contact Betty Roe at bettyroe@u-c.net or Debra Mendenhall at Debra@performingartsalliance.org for more information.